Sad Sad Eyes
by KazzaXTreme
Summary: Randy's got nothing left to lose and just wants to escape. Alex feels the same way. Can the two provide each other with an escape? Rated for Drug references
1. Chapter 1

Randy was lonely, he'd burnt a lot of bridges over the last couple of years and now that John was injured he had no one to talk to. Paul had come back from his injury a completely different man and Randy just couldn't relate anymore, he couldn't talk dirty diapers and first steps because he wasn't a father.

Kennedy had come back from his suspension as had Regal and Umaga, and they all were angry that Randy hadn't been suspended as well. The divas had steered clear of him ever since his practical joke spree.

And the rest of the Raw roster? They were either siding with the divas or someone he'd never gotten along with. Randy wasn't kidding anyone, he didn't even have Dave anymore, he was alone on the road.

Ever since John got injured he'd been wondering if wrestling was really the career for him. 200 plus days on the road, a new bed every night and the couple of days a week he was home he was still alone.

He'd been due to marry the love of his life, Samantha, but two weeks before the wedding she realized that she couldn't marry a man that was never home and she didn't trust him to be faithful on the road.

Randy had cried himself to sleep for a week and pushed himself into his work. Feuding with John had been the only thing keeping him going, but then John got injured and they weren't even going to give Randy the title.

It was then that Randy regretted the angry outbursts and smoking weed backstage, he would have the title otherwise. With the title came a nice little bonus and as many feuds as he wanted he would be the main event until John came back. But Randy had to get himself in trouble one too many times and there was no way that he was getting the championship now.

Randy checked into the next hotel and flopped down on the bed, some of the boys were going to a bar and sure they'd invited him but he knew they didn't mean it. In reality Randy just wanted to sleep, when he was in dream land everything was okay.

It was only while he was asleep that he could escape the physical and mental pain he felt whenever he was awake. Sleeping he could escape the real world and go back to when things were easier; when John, Dave, Paul and him were all on the same show. None of them were injured and Paul was yet to take on the responsibilities of fatherhood.

Dave and Paul would keep an eye on Randy and John, making sure they didn't get into too much trouble but they still had heaps of fun. That was before the drugs and the anger and the injuries.

The drugs helped him forget how good things used to be, they helped him forget that it would only take one more injury and he could lose use of his entire arm, let alone his job. Asleep he could relive the better days and forget how life really was then and there. Together the drugs and the sleep he could pretend that his life was perfect.

Alex wasn't doing much better than Randy. For a long time she'd been going through the motions of life but not actually living. She had plenty of friends but they had their own lives and were often too busy to see what was going on with her.

Alex wanted to fall in love, meet the perfect man and get her happily ever after but all the guys just saw her as one them. She never let on but it sucked, she could be just as girly as the next girl Alex just preferred the outdoors, hunting and 4-wheeling. It was unfair that it was those hobbies that tended to turn guys off viewing her as a love interest.

Another of Alex's favorite activities was the wrestling, though lately it didn't hold as much appeal. She had a girl friend that absolutely loved the sport as well and the two had front row tickets. Admittedly Alex didn't really care about going to the show anymore; it was just another thing that held her back from her own dream land where, like Randy, she found an escape. But she'd promised her friend and she had already paid for the ticket so to the wrestling she would go.

Like she had so often Alex went through the motions of getting ready for the show, she mechanically drove to her friends and picked her up before driving to the arena. She gave her ticket over and sat with a sigh, her friend barely noticed that she wasn't herself.

Not too far away Randy was doing similar; he was going through the motions of getting ready for the show. He showered, stretched and hyped himself up but inside he was completely numb, it wasn't the same any more.

Randy wanted a smoke, it didn't have to be weed, he had half a pack of Marlboro at the bottom of his bag but he had promised John that he wouldn't start again. Now John was gone for at least 6 months and those Marlboros were looking pretty good.

He had a while before his match and knew that he could easily sneak out for a smoke and get back inside before anyone noticed he was gone. Leaning back against a somewhat private wall he lit a cigarette and inhaled, it was the best feeling in the world. Each time he inhaled he could feel the pain drifting away.

Alex had left the arena, she claimed that she needed to go to the bathroom but had snuck out instead. She knew that as long as Justin Roberts was announcing and flirting with her friend she could go anywhere and her friend wouldn't notice. Keeping close to the building she wandered until she came across Randy, of course despite being a major fan, she didn't realize it was actually Randy Orton when she asked to bum a smoke.

"You lost?" Randy asked after watching his new companion light up her cigarette and inhale.

"No just getting some fresh air," she replied still not really looking at him,

"You're in a restricted area, wrestlers only"

"Oh sorry, thanks for the smoke," the companion replied before turning and heading back towards the main entrance.

"Hey you can stay, I don't care. What's your name?"

"Alex, you?"

Randy was shocked, he'd never been asked his name at a wrestling event before. Everybody knew who he was, how could this girl not? He looked her up and down and saw the shirt she was wearing, it was one of his so she had to be a fan, then he saw the sadness in her eyes.

And he realized that she hadn't noticed who she was talking to. It was the sadness he saw in his own eyes every time he looked in the mirror, the sadness that had caused him to stop looking. He couldn't bear his reflection anymore and wondered if she felt the same way.

"I'm the guy on your t-shirt," he finally responded causing his companion to look him in the eyes. She gave a weak smile and apologized, it was the best she could do. She'd always imagined meeting Randy and trying to kidnap him, keep him to herself but now she didn't care. The nicotine was kicking in and she was finally relaxing, it didn't matter that her friend was going to smell the smoke on her when she finally went inside, Alex was feeling the best she had in ages.

The fact that Alex didn't scream and giggle like an obsessed fan told Randy that the sadness he had seen in her eyes reached further.

"Do you ever just want to escape?" He sighed inhaling once more,

"All the time," Alex muttered and her phone rang, "and throw this away," she continued before answering the call.

It was her friend, Justin had noticed that Alex hadn't returned and commented on it. There were benefits and downfalls of sitting front row in the announcer's corner.

"I need to get back inside. Thanks for letting me escape," Alex muttered ending the call, not once had her voice reached much louder than a whisper.

"Anytime," Randy smiled sadly and watched as Alex stomped out the butt and headed off.

"Hey, we're staying at the Radisson if you wanted to escape later, room 212" Randy called out, not intending to sound like a sleaze, just wanting to perhaps get rid of some of the sadness he saw in Alex's eyes and hoping maybe it would help him.

Randy didn't know if it was the nicotine or Alex but in those few minutes he had spent with the woman he felt good, the pain was barely there and he felt ready to face Umaga. Another squash match to remind Randy that he may be talented but Vince McMahon owned his soul. As he took a second Samoan Spike Randy wondered once more why he was doing this.

After his shower he looked at his phone, a missed call from his dad, he knew his father wouldn't be happy. Randy listened to the message and sighed before throwing his phone in the bottom of his bag, the good feeling he had early in the night was now long gone.

He ached all over and was angry that Umaga was allowed to manhandle him like that. Most the guys took care with Randy's shoulder, they wouldn't attack that arm and if they did it was gentle it was the same with Paul's quads and Dave's biceps. But Umaga was different, he was a monster and just attacked, back stage he even told Randy that he was being a wimp worrying about his shoulder all the time. Umaga had gone through his entire career as a thug, he hadn't been in any real matches nor had he had any serious injuries.

Randy found a solitary spot down an empty hall way and hooked up his iPod, he was done for the night but protocol said he had to stay. No one would take a second glance at a guy in track pants and a black hoodie.

Sure enough he was left alone the rest of the show that is until Shelton wandered past and kicked his feet,

"Orton, time to go," he hissed before walking off. Randy had begun disappearing like this the week that John had gotten injured.

Shelton had stumbled upon him one day and began to keep an eye on him, making sure that he didn't miss the bus back to the hotel. Without saying a word Randy picked up his bag and headed to the bus.

Like usual Randy entered the hotel room and after dropping his bag flopped on his bed and sighed. He was more than happy to lie there until his wake up call the next morning. His cell phone was hidden in the depths of his bag and was on vibrate so nobody could bother him.

He was nearly asleep when someone knocked. Randy nearly screamed he was had been so close to escape. He hesitated answering and pulled off his shirt hoping that the person on the other side of the door would just go away and he could get to sleep. Unfortunately the knock persisted and Randy was forced to answer the door.

"Alex," he whispered remembering the girl he'd escaped with earlier.

"I hope you don't mind," she muttered in response. Alex was close to tears, she was tired and Justin had invited her friend out for drinks so she was stuck in the city. It was typical, her friend's wrapped up in their own worlds would forget about her and wouldn't care about how she was feeling.

"Come in, you look tired"

"Exhausted, Jamie's gone with Justin so I'm stuck in the city" Alex muttered and soon found herself collapsing into Randy's outstretched arms.

He knew how she must have felt because he often felt the exact same way. Sometimes you just need a hug and while Randy wasn't usually that kind of guy he'd been aching for a hug for ages.

They barely said a word, they didn't need to. They were two lost souls bought together. Randy led her to the bed and lay down pulling Alex against his chest. They didn't need to know ages or backgrounds.

At that moment all they needed was each other and they fell asleep both escaping into their dream worlds. No drugs and no sleeping tablets just each other. It wasn't a promise of a life time and they had no idea what would happen in the morning it was that moment that counted.

With Alex in his arms all of Randy's failures slipped away, it no longer hurt to breathe and he no longer felt angry. In Randy's arms Alex was no longer one of the guys, she wasn't failing at school and she felt safe. The only thing that she feared now was that it would all disappear in the morning.

**A/N: To the real Alex who's been feeling ****a bit this way****. Just know I'd never ditch you for Justin Roberts… Batista maybe but not Justin :-p **


	2. Chapter 2

Randy woke unusually warm; he glanced down and saw light brown hair spayed across his chest. For a moment he couldn't remember what had happened and wondered if he had gotten drunk again. Then the sleeping form beside him groaned slightly in her sleep and he remembered Alex. The young woman he'd met the night before who had come to him to escape and escape they had.

Not even the shrill ringing echoing throughout the room could change the way Randy was feeling. He felt somewhat at peace with Alex snuggled against him, the two molded together perfectly. Randy tried to ignore this knowing that soon he would have to head to the next town while Alec would return to her own little world.

"Who the hell rings at this time of night?" Alex muttered aimlessly feeling around to find the cause of the interruption.

"What?" She snapped finally answering the call.

"Oh it's you, what do you want?"

"I'm at the Radisson with Randy," at the mention of his name Randy perked up slightly, curious to see where this conversation was leading.

"Like you can talk, you ditched me for Justin,"

"Yea and I was asleep," Randy listened to the one sided conversation, it was clear that Alex wasn't too impressed by her friend ringing.

"Oh and so now you want me to come and get you?" Randy didn't want her to go; he was comfortable with Alex in his arms.

"Hey, it's not my fault he can't hold his liquor," there was a long pause with Alex's sighing into the phone. Randy guessed that her friend, he thought Alex had called her Jamie, was making excuses.

"Fine, I'll change my plans, again, and come save your ass, again, but you owe me! I'll be there in half an hour," Alex sighed as she ended the call and threw the offending phone across the room.

Alex sighed, closed her eyes and slightly burrowed further under the covers. Randy pulled her closer but didn't want to say anything, he didn't want to ruin the moment, and lately whenever Randy opened his mouth he got in trouble.

She opened her eyes and looked up at Randy.

"I have to go." she whispered. Randy wanted to keep her here with him but he knew he couldn't. They lived separate lives and they both had to get back to them.

He smiled at her,

"You could always call her a cab," he whispered. Alex laughed half heartedly and pulled the covers back to get up. She shook her head and got out of bed.

Randy sighed and followed suit, he went to his bag and found a pen and paper. He knew he was taking a risk but this couldn't be the last time he saw the woman. Having jotted down his number he pulled Alex into another hug. As they pulled apart he placed the piece of paper in her hand,

"If you ever want to escape," he whispered.

Alex couldn't help but wonder if Randy was just being polite, why would he offer her an escape? Randy looked into her questioning blue eyes,

"Because sometimes, you just need to know that you're not alone." Alex sighed and left the room, she could no longer bear to look at the man, she had just seen the sadness in his eyes.

She waited at the lift wishing she was still asleep, why did she have to be so damn nice? It was the second time in one night that she had changed her plans for her friend.

"Alex!" Randy called as he raced towards her, causing her heart to flutter. Finally they stood face to face and he held out his hand.

"You forgot this," he sighed handing over the cell phone that she had thrown across the room just minutes earlier.

"Keep it," she muttered taking the offending object from him. She didn't want anything to do with the phone all it ever did was bring her problems.

The elevator doors dinged making Alex separate from the man, she still couldn't look in the face. Not another word was shared between the two as the doors closed.

Randy stood staring at the closed doors until a voice behind him announced,

"You know you have to press a button to get it to do anything," he knew who was talking and didn't care.

Instead Randy just turned around and headed back to his hotel room silently wishing that just once Paul would follow him. But when he reached his room he was alone, Paul had undoubtedly taken the lift down to fulfill whatever mission Stephanie had for him.

Randy sat on his bed and stared at his phone, when he had found Alex's cell he had quickly prank called his own so that he would have her number. He now had 20 missed calls and only one he cared about. The one that told him how he could contact the woman he had escaped with.

As Alex was walking to her car she looked through her cell phone to see if she has missed any important calls. As she scrolled through she noticed an unfamiliar number that she had supposedly called just a few minutes ago.

Checking the piece of paper in her hand she smiled; now she knew that Randy was serious when he said to call. Her happiness was short lived when her phone started ringing again and she recognized Jamie's number.

"I'm on my way." she snapped and hung up. She got in her car and drove to the nearby hotel her friend was stranded at.

Randy was finally saving Alex's number as she pulled up in front of Jamie,

"I'm so sorry; I owe you big time,"

"Just shut up and get in the car," Alex snapped, this was the last place she wanted to be. The two friends spent the drive home in silence. Jamie was kicking herself at how she had managed to get herself caught in yet another sticky situation while Alex was fuming over yet another interrupted night.

Alex finally pulled into her driveway and Jamie her best death glare when she began to question whether or not she was going to be taken home. Jamie's house was another 35 minutes away and there was no way that Alex was going to drive that far, she was struggling to stay awake as it was.

Randy eventually fell into a restless sleep; his bed was empty without Alex in it and for the first time he could not stand to sleep in an empty bed. He had only slept an hour or two when he finally received his wake up call, by then he was welcoming it. The heat from the shower offered little toease the pain bought on by the match the night before. Yet Randy could have spent the entire day under that hot stream.

A short time later Randy checked out of the hotel and headed for his rental car. Many of the boys had opted to fly to the next town but Randy wasn't going to the same place, besides he had wanted some alone time so he had opted to drive, it was going to take about 11 hours not including breaks. This was why he was leaving before sunrise, the whole world was asleep and sitting in the car with his music blaring was when he felt the least alone.

Randy had been driving for about four hours and was just about ready to stop for another coffee break when his phone rang. Knowing it wasn't his father's number; he had put any number of his father's on a special ring and had done the same with WWE admin.

"Randy speaking," he answered as he turned the radio down.

"You're awake?" Randy's best friend asked shocked. Randy smiled John couldn't completely take the pain away but he could definately make him feel better.

"Yea I'm driving to Detroit,"

"Why not fly?"

"Wanted some time alone,"

"11 plus hours? What's her name?" Randy sighed, whenever he wanted alone time John assumed that it had to do with a girl.

It was true that Alex was partly responsible but Randy had planned the week before to drive from Minneapolis to Detroit. Ever since he'd received the call informing him of the house show suspension he was on for the next month. But Randy wasn't going to tell John that, he wasn't in the mood for a lecture.

"There's no girl, I just wanted time alone,"

"When did you leave?" John asked wisely opting to steer away from the topic. Andy suspected that John had a feeling something was going on but was currently opting to tread carefully and change the topic.

"About 4:30 this morning,"

"So you'll get there what? 5:30-6ish?"

"More like 7:30 or later… I'm taking my time,"

"No show tonight?"

"There is but I have the night off, I'll arrive at the arena not long after it starts. I have an appearance at noon tomorrow," Randy explained attempting to brush off his predicted late arrival in Detroit.

Randy heard typing across the phone and prayed that John wasn't looking up the show schedule online. The second Randy heard his friend sigh he knew he was in trouble. The house show for the night was in Helena, Montana.

"You're going to arrive extremely late if you're getting to Montana via Detroit Randy,"

"Yea well at least I'll be in Detroit for my signing tomorrow." Randy muttered hoping John wouldn't push the matter.

"What happened last night?" John asked causing Randy to sigh, he could stand to talk about last night as long as it steered his friend away from the fact that Randy wasn't heading for the house show.

"Vince is screwing me around again, I hate that ape Umaga," Randy muttered, subconsciously rubbing his sore shoulder. Then he smiled when he remembered that girl he met, gorgeous Alex.

Randy briefly felt a wave of warmth rush over him as he remembered Alex wrapped in his arms asleep. He could still smell her hair and see that sadness in her eyes. Randy wanted nothing more than to be back in that bed with Alex in his arms; hell he'd settle for her sitting beside him in the car.

"ORTON are you still alive?" John called into the phone; Randy was so caught up in his day dream that he had completely forgotten that he was still on the phone with his best friend,

"Yea, sorry"

"So why aren't you heading for Montana?"

"I told you I have an appearance in Detroit tomorrow"

"Maybe but you'd take a red-eye. How long?" John asked and Randy knew he was talking about the suspension.

"A month," he sighed, he could never hide the truth from his best friend,

"What did you do?"

"I told you, Vince is screwing with me again"

"Randall Keith Orton!"

"Don't be my father," Randy sighed. He already had his father constantly on his back he didn't need his best friend there too.

"Alright, alright but one more question,"

"What?" Randy snapped he was sick of this conversation and wished he could get back to daydreaming about Alex.

"Why am I looking at a picture of you leaning against a wall with a cigarette in your hand? You said you quit,"

"It was one cigarette, I needed it."

"You needed one cigarette? Just like you needed one joint right? That's why you got suspended isn't it?" John hissed, he was angry at his friend.

"Shut up John," Randy snapped. He wasn't about to tell his best friend the truth behind his suspension.

He'd had a bit much to drink and stole a fan's camera before breaking it, if there was one thing John despised more than drugs was disrespecting the fans. They were the ones that make or break a wrestler's career. Disrespecting them in the ring was one thing, it was part of their job, disrespecting them out of the ring was simply wrong.

"Who's the chick in the photo then?" John asked opting to change the subject, he knew that Randy was very close to hanging up on him and he wasn't ready to give up the conversation. Randy was hiding something and John was certain that it was more than the house-show suspension. Randy wasn't ready to give up any information but John was going to keep pushing.

"I don't know, some chick that wanted a smoke?" Randy shrugged and pulled off the highway, he had seen a sign for a gas station and Starbucks and after this conversation he definitely needed a coffee if not something stronger.

"Hey John, I just pulled into a gas station, I need to fill up."

"Alright, call me when you get to Detroit"

"Yea sure whatever, later" Randy sighed ending the call.


	3. Chapter 3

Around 9pm that evening Randy finally pushed the door of his hotel room open and flopped on the bed. The drive had been refreshing but by the 8th hour he had gotten ants in his pants and was ready to go for a jog, when he had arrived at his hotel that's just what he had done. He was staying in Dearborn, about 45 minutes out of downtown Detroit and luckily his hotel had a gym, well at least a treadmill.

Randy was ready for sleep, he didn't care that he was wet with sweat and starting to smell. Lying on the bed he closed his eyes and was moments from sleep when an image of Alex entered his vision. He needed to talk to her again, hear her voice. Ignoring the ever rising missed calls from his father Randy found the number he had saved the night before.

"Jamie, it doesn't matter what number you call me from I am not listening to your lame ass excuses anymore!" It was clear to Randy that Alex was not just having a fight with her friend but hadn't saved his number yet.

"Don't hang up," Randy rushed out worried that Alex would hang up on him if she thought he was Jamie. Of course she may hang up on him anyway.

"You're not Jamie."

"Nope,"

"Who is this?"

"It's Randy, we met last night, remember??" At that moment Randy wondered if he was making a stupid mistake calling Alex. She had probably completely forgotten about him and moved on with being angry at her friend.

"Randy," she whispered after a minute,

"I remember. I just didn't expect you to call."

"I hope you don't mind,"

"Not at all. So where are you tonight? Montana?"

"Detroit, I have an appearance tomorrow."

"House show suspension?" Alex asked causing Randy to inwardly groan.

"How did you know?"

"It's all over the internet, you broke a fans camera," Alex explained and Randy realized that it wouldn't take long for John to do a simple search and discover the truth behind his suspension.

"Oh crap. Now I'm going to have John yelling at me too. I wish he'd lay off,"

"He only does it because he cares, I wish I had someone like that" Randy shook his head, he knew Alex was speaking the truth; he just didn't want to admit it.

"So why did you ring?" Alex asked. She was over the moon that Randy had called but had no idea why. They'd spent a couple of hours together but this was by far the longest conversation they'd had.

"Honestly? I wanted to talk to you, hear your voice. Lame I know," Randy was thankful that Alex couldn't see him; he was as red as a tomato.

"No that's cool."

"What are you doing the rest of the week?" Randy asked attempting to change the subject. He knew that he was kind of falling for this girl but he didn't know why. Just talking to Alex was taking away the pain he felt. He was beginning to relax and the knots in his chest and stomach were beginning to untie.

"Not much, just school and work. What about you?"

School? Randy's heart skipped a beat could he be talking to, even falling for a high school kid? Oh man, John was going to totally have his ass.

"School? How old are you?"

"23, I'm a senior in college. So what are you doing the rest of the week?" Randy couldn't help but to breathe a sigh of relief. Sure she was four years younger than him but hey that didn't matter, she was legal.

Randy thought for a moment, what was he doing for the rest of the week?

"I don't know. John probably wants me to visit and my father wants me home," Randy responded sadly, he would have to pick between the two and no matter what decision he made, someone would be upset.

"What do you want to do?" Alex asked and Randy stopped, no one had ever asked him what he wanted to do on his time off, no one really ever cared. He thought for a moment and smiled a somewhat weak smile.

"There is this girl I met recently and without trying to sound like a stalker I think I would like to go and visit her because she is definitely someone I want to get to know better," Alex breath caught and her heart began to hurt.

She knew that she was nobody to him, the night before and the phone call, were all just a game, something to make Randy seem less like the ass he was always depicted as. But deep down Alex had hoped that wasn't the case. She had dreamt of the two saving each other from their ever deepening pits of personal hell and falling love. She'd dreamt of finally finding that happily ever after she had long craved for.

But that happily ever after had been completely crushed the second that Randy mentioned the girl he wanted to spend some time with, there was no way he would ever be talking about Alex.

"Oh?" She finally responded a lot quieter this time. Alex could only manage one word otherwise Randy would hear the disappointment in her voice and think she was a nut case.

She was a nutcase she told herself. Alex told herself to get over it and mentally kicked herself several times, so they had a smoke and spent some of the night asleep in each other's arms. That would have meant nothing to Randy.

"Yea, I met her last night." Alex sighed, he'd gone out after she'd left and found himself a woman.

"She's got the softest light brown hair and the saddest blue eyes I've ever seen. And all I want to do is see her smile because I reckon it'd light the whole world. When she left last night I couldn't breathe, my bed felt so empty and I couldn't sleep."Alex knew how Randy felt; she had a similar experience.

"So why not go visit her?" Alex asked managing a few more words before her voice began to break.

"I would like to, but I don't know if she would let me."

"Well I'll let you go so you can ring and ask," Alex was slowly resigning herself to the fact that Randy would never speak that way about her, no matter how she felt for him.

"There's no need I'm talking to her right now." Ah, the joys of the internet, thought Alex.

"Well let me know what she says,"

"You tell me. Alex if I came to Minneapolis got room and told you the room number would I have company or would I spend the rest of the week alone?"

Alex's heart skipped a beat she couldn't believe what she was hearing; he had been talking about her? Randy's heart wasn't doing that well either. He had taken an insane chance and hadn't really thought it through but it was out there now. Randy waited with bated breath for her response and it was killing him. Time stood still while Alex thought over what she had been asked.

"Yes," she finally muttered,

"Yes I'll be alone? Yes I'll have company? It was a multiple choice question you've got to help me out here," Randy rushed out feeling completely and utterly like an idiot.

"Yes, you'll have company," Alex whispered unable to comprehend what was going on.

When had Alex gone from being one of the guys to be the girl that the one and only Randy Orton wanted to spend the rest of the week with? She hadn't done anything special the night before, just bummed a smoke and spent some time with him, asleep. Until the phone call they had barely said two words to each other.

Alex heard a thud through the phone,

"Are you okay?"

"Yea, sorry I just fell of the bed." Glad that they were on the phone and not in person Randy blushed at his predicament. He had gotten his foot stuck between the bed and bedside drawers, the perils of lying with his head at the other end of the bed. After a moment of twisting and pulling and a string of swear words that would impress Austin, Randy managed to free his foot and pull his laptop onto his lap.

They exchanged small talk while Randy pulled up the Northwest Airlines page and did a search for flights from Detroit to Minneapolis. He was going to need a first class ticket; there was no way he was in the mood to sit in economy with everyone. Ten Minutes later Randy was booked on a flight to Minneapolis at 7pm the next night, now he just had to find a hotel.

His heart was beating a million miles an minute, he refused to stop and think about the reactions of John or his father. Randy was going to do what he wanted to do for a change.

"Okay I have a flight; I get in just after 8pm tomorrow. I just need to find a hotel,"

"I'd let you stay with me but my father would have some issues with coming home and finding a strange guy in the house,"

"You still live at home?"

"Yea, no rent, close to school and work, clothes washed and free food,"

"Sounds like a nice deal, I had similar but I had to pay rent." Randy sighed remembering the slightly better days, when he was just an indy wrestler and his father had yet to get him involved with the biggest company in the world.

"Alright I have my room. I'll be staying at The Marquette," The man explained as he hit the submit button. This trip was going to cost him a fortune and his father would have his head for wasting his money so 'inappropriately' but Randy thought it was worth it, well he certainly hoped it would be.

"The Marquette?" Alex asked in shock, she knew the hotel and just how expensive it was,

"Yea, it looks nice have you ever stayed there?"

"Hell no, it's expensive"

"Yea it is a bit, but I got a junior suite with a whirlpool." It was Alex's turn to fall off the bed, which had to be costing the man close to $400 a night.

"Are you insane? That has to cost a fortune?"

"Yea it does, but I'm doing what I want to do for a change."

At that moment a horrid beeping started in Randy's ear, he had another call. Pulling his cell from his ear slightly he glanced down and saw that John was calling, he had to answer.

"Hey, John's calling. I have to answer or he'll send a search party for me. I was meant to get here at like 7:30 but was late and I haven't called him yet. Sorry"

"It's okay"

"Call you tomorrow"

"Sure, bye." Alex barely heard Randy's hurried goodbye before the call ended.

Randy answered John's call only to receive the man yelling in his ear,

"One – Where the hell are you? Two – Call your father he is going insane!"

"Hello to you too. I'm in Detroit I had another call to make before I rang you and I'll ring my father when I feel like it." Whatever Randy had been feeling moments before was now long gone, he was back to his world where nobody trusted him and felt he needed to be treated like a child.

"So when are you arriving tomorrow?" He'd been right; John did want him to come visit.

"Um, I'm not,"

"Your father insisting on you coming home?"

"I wouldn't know, I haven't called him remember. I'm going to Minnesota tomorrow night,"

"What? Are you insane?" John couldn't believe it, Randy had two choices go home or visit him and he was choosing to go to Minnesota? The only person in Minnesota was Shelton and he was travelling.

"There is someone I want to visit,"

"You were just there last night you could have visited with them then. You can't go, your father won't allow it," Randy sighed, he was sick of being treated like he was little kid. He'd messed up once or twice so they treated him like he was five; his younger siblings had more freedom than he did.

"I'm 27 years old and for the first time in years, tonight, someone asked me what I wanted to do this week. After a minute I realized I didn't want to visit you and I didn't want to spend the rest of the week being yelled at by my father but I wanted to get to know the person asking me what I wanted. So I booked a flight to Minneapolis and I booked a hotel room. When I arrive at the hotel tomorrow night I'm going to call them and say this is my room number, I'll see you soon." Randy found himself smiling; he was standing up to his friend and at the same time, his father.

John was stunned and didn't know how to respond to his friend's outburst. So instead of addressing the issue John wisely opted to change the subject. The men exchanged small talk for a few minutes until Randy faked a yawn and exaggerated his tiredness, not like it was much of a stretch.

Once the call ended Randy headed for the shower, it was late and he wanted nothing more than to sleep but the sweat from his workout was now caking and he felt disgusting. The hot stream was little help to his still aching shoulder but at least he was clean.

It was midnight by the time he got out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist. Randy was about to go to bed, he was more than ready to escape the day and knew if he didn't sleep then he'd spend the rest of the night analyzing his outburst.

As he lay on the bed Randy noticed his cell phone vibrating on the table, he knew who it was and knew it was time to face the music. Sighing he answered the call,

"Hey Dad"


	4. Chapter 4

Randy listened to his father rant and rave for what felt like an eternity. Randy had been telling himself the same things for the last few days and really didn't need to hear it from his father. He knew he was a screw up, he hadn't been able to do anything right since he stepped foot in a WWE ring. He had talent but he wasn't like his old man, when it came to the ring nothing was easy for him. Sometimes he wondered why he didn't use those straight A grades and do something decent with his life, why did he follow his father and grandfather into the ring?

"So, when does your flight get in? Your mother is going to pick you up at the airport."

The moment Randy was dreading had finally arrived. His father wanted him home; he wasn't asking he was ordering. But Randy wasn't going home this time; he had made his own decision.

"Around 8 but she's going to have a long drive. I'm going to Minneapolis," Randy explained trying to sound confident. He held his breath waiting for the inevitable blow up.

"WHAT?"

"I'm going to Minneapolis," Randy's voice quivered slightly. It was one thing to stand up to John but a completely different one to stand up to his father.

"I think not, this is your 3rd house show suspension this year, you're coming home!"

"Good one dad, but there is a slight problem in your thought process,"

"Oh really?"

"Yea, I'm 27 and that makes me an adult. That means you cannot dictate my life anymore. I've let you control me too long. I'm going to Minneapolis," Randy was starting to feel slightly braver as the conversation continued.

"Since when did you get balls?"

"Since someone asked what I wanted as opposed to telling me what I was going to do,"

"How do you suppose to pay for this trip?" Randy stopped for a second, was his father seriously that idiotic?

He knew hell was going to hit the fan when he finally saw his father. But right then he felt alive and in control of his life. He hadn't felt like that since, actually he couldn't remember the last time he had felt in control of his life.

"Oh I don't know, how about the money I make from my job?"

"I can't stop you going to Minneapolis, but next week the second Raw is over I want you on a plane home," his father eventually hissed.

"Actually, next week I think I'm going to go visit John." Randy smirked to himself, his stomach hurt and his heart was in his throat. He may be 27 but his father knew how to make him feel like he was 2.

"You can't avoid me forever Randall,"

"Actually if I really want to I can. There is someone I want to spend time with so I'm going to Minneapolis and my best friend is recovering from serious surgery so next week I'm visiting him. But right now I'm going to bed," Randy's voice was losing its confidence and he knew he had to end the call as quickly as possible or his dad would notice and take advantage.

"We're not finished discussing this,"

"Love you dad, bye," Randy rushed out as tears began to streak his face.

He turned his phone off and removed his towel before finally climbing under the covers. Tears were still streaking down his face. He had stood up to his father for the first time in his life and he felt completely miserable. He was finally taking control of his life so why did it hurt so much? Why did it always hurt? Just breathing ached, his shoulder was still agony, and he knew what that meant but didn't want to think about it.

He contemplated something he'd contemplated before and realized that for once no one was there to stop him; they wouldn't find him until long after he didn't answer his wake up call. But he had an appearance the next morning and Alex was waiting on his arrival. He could do it, it would be easy but, he wouldn't, for some reason he didn't want to hurt Alex. Not like his actions would really hurt Alex but he would be upset if she did what he had been contemplating.

With Alex in mind Randy rolled over and let the tears run their course, around 1 am the man finally fell asleep. There was no dreaming, he had worn himself out too much to dream. Just a black oblivion, his place of escape, if only he didn't have to wake up. Unfortunately at 10 am his wake up call did what it was designed to do.

He showered trying to get the spray to massage his shoulder and offer some heat relief, it didn't help. Randy knew he needed to see the doctor but he also knew he could hide the pain from Alex and enjoy the week. John would pick it up though, his dad too. He knew his shoulder well enough to know it wasn't just a twinge from a rough match. But he didn't need shoulder problems now.

Randy made it to his signing with 5 minutes to spare and plastered a fake smile on his face before sitting down. He spent four hours dealing with swooning teenage girls and obsessed 10 year old boys. Not to mention the occasional disapproving parent and wannabe adult male. The signing was only meant to last three hours but he had not so pointedly been told that EVERY fan was to get an autograph. If his job wasn't on such thin ice he would have RKO'd the first fan and shot out of there. It wasn't that he hated his fans; it was just that most the time he couldn't stand them.

It was 4:30 by the time the last fan had received his autograph and the second they had left the shop Randy was out of his seat and heading for his car. He didn't care about protocol and he knew McMahon would probably have his ass but he had a flight to catch. The only thing he cared about was getting on that plane and getting off in Minneapolis. He wanted to get to that hotel and have Alex join him, then he could spend the rest of the week forgetting how much of screw up he was.

Alex didn't care that he was on suspension, she didn't care about the drugs he took or the people he pissed off. All that Alex cared about was that she wasn't alone and that she was about to spend the rest of the week with a man who knew how she felt. He'd felt the same way and she just hoped that he could save her life because she was so sick and tired of saving others.

Alex continued stacking bulk soap packages on the shelves and checked her watch, Randy would be boarding. Her heart skipped a beat and she couldn't help but smile however, the second a co-worker came into sight the smile was gone. She hadn't had a reason to smile in so long and it felt foreign to her. But it was only a fleeting glimpse, something inside her changed at the knowledge that Randy was on his way.

Alex was meant to work until 10, but a co-worker owed her a favor and the moment Randy called she was out of there. Alex would wander around the shop aimlessly but always found herself back at the same place, the watch section. It felt as though time was standing still, Alex swore that the clocks were moving backwards. When 8 o'clock finally rolled around Alex started getting hyperactive, she just couldn't stay still knowing that Orton was bound to have landed and was heading for his hotel.

Alex wasn't allowed her phone on at work but she no longer cared, if Randy was going to ring there was no way she would miss that call. The second her phone began to vibrate Alex completely ignored the customer she was serving and answered. Sure enough it was Randy,

"Hey, I'm in room 614, how soon can you be here?"

"Give me an hour, I'll probably get lost" Alex replied waving her customer away and closing the till.

"See you then," Alex ended the call and hunted down Sean who was going to cover the rest of her shift.

Over two hours later Randy had figured that Alex was extremely lost and so he was lying on the bed with his shoulder resting on a bag of ice. It was the first relief he had felt since Raw. Staring at some random show on TV Randy wondered about Alex's whereabouts. He was about to give up all hope of her ever showing up when there was a knock,

"Room Service," Randy hadn't ordered room service but the voice sounded slightly familiar. The man decided to get up and explain that the ordered couldn't be for him.

"I didn't order room service," Randy said opening the door.

"Oh ok, I'll just take it back then" Alex smirked before spinning on her heels and heading back to the elevator.

Randy was stunned at what he'd just seen, Alex wearing tight blue jeans and a royal purple sleeveless top. She had smirked, it was nearly a smile and it seemed to light up the entire room. What would happen if she really smiled? Randy snapped out of his stunned state and raced out the room after Alex placing a hand on her should just as she was about to step into the elevator.

"Took you long enough," There is that smirk again Randy thought.

"Well you mentioned room service and I decided that I was kind of hungry," Randy couldn't help but smirk back.

"Sorry but that ship has sailed," Alex replied without missing a beat.

Alex couldn't believe where she was, the hallway of 6th floor of the Marquette with the one and only Randy Orton. Once she left work Alex had stopped via her place to get changed only to be confronted by Jamie. Jamie figured that Alex had to come home at some stage and would be forced to talk to her. Alex barely acknowledged Jamie but left the front door open for the girl to follow her friend to her bedroom. Jamie blurted out excuse after excuse for her actions the other night but Alex wasn't interested. Alex just wanted to be angry so she let her friend talk as she packed her bag for the rest of the week and changed. As Alex headed for the front door again Jamie stopped,

"Where are you going?"

"To spend some time with a friend,"

"Can you give me a lift first? Please?" Alex couldn't believe it, her friend was still asking for a lift? Was she kidding?

"I'm not taking you home,"

"No, can you take me into Rice Park. I'm meeting someone there."

Sometimes Alex hated not being able to say no. Instead of heading to the Marquette and actually having a chance of showing up when promised for a change, Alex found herself driving her supposed best friend to Rice Park.

After dropping Jamie off Alex succeeded in getting lost and turned a 15 minute trip into an hour. By the time she finally found the hotel Alex was two hours late and then had to deal with a grumpy night clerk who thought that she was not an appropriate guest for the hotel.

Now Alex found herself standing in the 6th floor hall way, doing what could be considered, flirting with Randy Orton.

"Can I at least find out what was on the menu?"

Randy watched his companion; she was deep in thought and had clearly missed his question. The man saw the advantage of the woman's inattention and took a moment to truly look at her. She was about 5 foot 6, slim not skinny like so many rings rats these days, not that Alex was a ring rat. But so many ring rats and girls in general would starve themselves because somewhere along the line some guys got it into their minds that skinny was hot. Now girls try to live up to that image but Randy thought it was disgusting and unhealthy. He wasn't particularly fond of large girls either; they had gone too far in the other extreme and didn't take care of themselves. Women, who were slim and trimmed, like Alex, were the image that Randy thought everybody should aim for.

To Randy, Alex was gorgeous, not only was she slim but her light brown hair fell softly around her shoulders. He could still smell her shampoo and had stolen the pillow case that she'd slept on earlier that week. Randy moved past her hair to her eyes, those brown eyes that were still full of sadness. He yearned to make them sparkle and could only imagine what the woman would look like if they did. Her light olive skin set everything off, in Randy's opinion she was a definite 10 out of 10. He was smitten.

"Can I at least find out what was on the menu?" Randy asked again smirking; he was pushing his luck but wanted some idea to what was going to happen. He didn't care about sex at this stage; of course he wouldn't object if it was offered, he was male after all. But, in reality Randy just cared about getting to know the woman who had consumed his thoughts since Raw.

"Oh well I was thinking an appetizer of movies and popcorn, then an entrée of that whirl pool and lots of sleep," Alex replied smirking.

She was nervous but being around Randy somehow seemed right and the bottomless hole in her heart seemed to hurt a little less when he was around. She wanted to get to know him better; Alex had seen the sadness in Randy's eyes and yearned to find the root of it.

Sheenjoyed flirting with the man but was worried he wouldn't accept her advances. Why would he? She was relatively plain and far from beautiful, a tomboy to a tee. And Randy was Randall Keith Orton; he was a sex symbol, an Adonis. Women flocked all over him and he could have his pick of anyone. However, he did chose to spend the rest of the week with Alex; she wondered what his intentions were.

"What about dessert?" He asked without missing a beat,

"You need to watch your figure; no one wants to see a fat Randy Orton," Alex was enjoying herself and couldn't help but smile as Randy pouted in response.

"Oh, she smiles! She smiles!" Randy burst out accidently. He had been right when he thought that her smile would light up the world. It was like nothing he had ever seen before and the smile had barely even reached her eyes. The second Randy spoke it was gone, just a fleeting glimpse of heaven.

At that point someone stuck their head out of a room and yelled for the couple to be quiet, people were trying to sleep. Randy dropped down on his knees begging for Alex to join him back in his room for their 'appetizer'. Rolling her eyes at the man's pathetic plea Alex took sympathy on Randy and they headed for their room.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Merry Christmas Ash and everybody!

In the hotel room Alex and Randy settled down to watch movies. Alex had begged Randy to watch Pearl Harbor as it was one of her favorites. The girl sat on the edge of her seat the entire movie shushing Randy every time he attempted to speak. He made a mental note, 'never interrupt during Alex's favorite movie'.

The next movie was Randy's choice; he always had DVDs with him and Alex had bought a handful herself so he had plenty of options. Finally he settled on a movie that he had heard about but never seen. It was chick flick but that hopefully meant it would get Alex to relax a little. Sure enough half way through the movie Randy found Alex lying with her head in his lap. He smirked slightly and put his arm around her waist, she didn't move and Randy soon realized that her breathing had slowed. She was asleep and he was in heaven.

Randy had the most beautiful girl in the world sound asleep in his lap. It didn't matter what he was or what he had done at that moment the pain was gone and life was perfect. Randy yearned for this moment to last forever. He ran his fingers through Alex's hair, it was soft as silk, he lent down and smelt it. It smelt slightly like apple, much different to the way it had smelt just the other night. Randy wondered if she had run out of shampoo and the stuff she had used wasn't hers. In typical male form he didn't see why she would buy different shampoo, especially since the first lot had smelt so good.

Randy's moment of heaven was just that, a moment, his cell phone echoed throughout the room. Randy cursed when he realized he had forgotten to put his phone on silent. He prayed the noise wouldn't wake Alex and lent across the coffee table to answer the call,

"Do you know what time it is?" Randy whispered still trying not to wake the sleeping angel.

"You were going to call me when you landed, I was worried," his best friend responded.

"Well I was distracted." Alex had woken when the phone rang but had not recognized her ring tone so she remained still eager to discover who was calling Randy this late at night.

"Distracted? Let me guess by the friend you were so eager to visit?"

"Maybe," Randy glanced down and continued playing with Alex's hair. Alex wished she could hear both sides of the conversation.

"What's her name?"

"Who says she's a she?" Ah so they were talking about a female Alex worked out, perhaps her?

"You just did"

"Damn"

"What's her name?"

"John, it is none of your business," at the mention of John's name Alex's head shot up nearly hitting Randy in the chin. He was on the phone to John Cena? The one and only John Cena? Of course he was; John was Randy's best friend. It was so easy to forget that Randy was more than just your average guy; he was Randy Orton, third generation wrestler. It would be normal for him to have a conversation with his best friend, who just happened to be another wrestler.

"John, I've got to go Alex just woke up,"

"Alex? That's a guy's name!"

"Yea but trust me, she aint no guy! See ya," Randy smiled at Alex.

It felt weird to smile it had been so long since the last time. The stuff everybody saw on TV was just an act, it never reached inside him, and it never met anything. But this was a real smile, Randy was, dare he think it, happy?

"Behave, see ya," John ended the call and sighed he worried about his friend but the guy was an adult. What he did was up to him.

"You were talking to John Cena?" Alex asked in shock,

"Yea, he's my best friend," Randy shrugged, "You look tired, do you want to go to bed?"

"But there is only one, whatever shall we do?" Alex asked batting her eyelashes. She was hoping he would suggest sharing a bed but didn't want to force anything.

"Well it is kind of cold tonight and they always say your warmer when you stay close together, you know body heat." Randy couldn't believe how corny he was being but it seemed right and he found himself smiling again.

"Yea so we don't freeze to death right?" Alex replied trying to concentrate. Randy's smile had completely blown her mind, she had seen him smile heaps of times on TV but it was nothing like this.

"Yea for the sake of humanity, how devastated the world would be if Randy Orton froze to death over night," Randy smirked, turning on his egotistical charm.

"Well all right for the sake of the fans I guess we'll just have to share." Alex replied picking up her bag and heading for the bathroom. Randy watched her leave and sighed, he'd never believed in love at first sight but was now wondering if that is where he found himself. Completely and utterly in love with a girl he barely knew. Something told him that he had loved Alex his whole life he just had to meet her.

Randy pulled down his track pants leaving him in only a pair of cotton boxer shorts. It was quite a warm night; summer was very close, what the two had said was nothing but a lie. Randy rested his shoulder against the still cold ice pack but it was nothing but water now so he got up and poured it down the sink.

"What are you doing?" Alex asked having watched the man. She was nervous and wrapped her arms around herself to hide the clothing that she was wearing.

"Getting rid of some trash," Randy explained turning to look at his companion.

She was beautiful, wearing dark blue cotton boxer shorts and a light blue tank top. It completely blew Randy's mind, he had never seen anything so much like an angel in his life.

"Earth to Randy," Alex said for what seemed like the millionth time. She waved her hand in front of Randy's face laughing. He had been in a daze since Alex had left the bathroom.

"Sorry, I just saw an angel," Randy smirked brushing a piece of Alex's hair behind her ear. Alex blushed and Randy wanted nothing more to kiss her. Instead Randy pulled her close and felt his knees go weak as Alex's warm body relaxed against his.

They both felt like they could stay like that forever. Eventually Alex yawned so ignoring the searing pain in his shoulder, Randy picked her up and carried her to the bed. The two lay down and Randy held his arm out which Alex lay against and they were soon asleep, wrapped in each other's arms.

No wakeup call meant that the couple was able to sleep well past noon. It was the best sleep the both of them had experienced in a long time. Randy woke first and took some time to watch the sleeping woman beside him. For the first time in what felt like an eternity the knots that filled chest and stomach were absent. The young man was at peace.

A few minutes passed and Randy began to feel an undeniable pressure on his bladder, he had to go the bathroom, but he didn't want to move. He had a gorgeous woman asleep on his chest and he didn't want to risk any chance of waking her. It wasn't long until the need to relieve himself became too strong and he had no choice but to move Alex. Randy attempted to lift his free arm and gasped in pain. He closed his eyes in an attempt to clear the stars that had just filled his vision and struggled not to pass out. Cursing under his breath Randy opened his eyes and quickly closed them again, the room was spinning.

"Are you okay?" Alex asked sleepily, she'd been awake for a few minutes and had heard his elegant attempt at moving.

"Yea, just tight, haven't worked out for a couple of days" Randy gasped out hoping that his voice sounded somewhat normal.

"Bull!" Alex blurted out causing Randy to jump,

"What?"

"I'm calling you on your crap! You're in pain," Alex responded propping herself up on her elbow, "I've seen tightness from lack of working out, it is nothing like this."

"Whatever, I need to pee," Randy muttered once again attempting to push himself up.

Randy closed his eyes and tried to push through the pain, he knew he was in trouble and Alex didn't seem like the type to ignore it. Sure enough Randy soon felt Alex's soft hands helping him up. Alex watched the man retreat to the bathroom and remembered to his match a few nights earlier.

Umaga seemed to be rough but Randy shouldn't have been in this much pain. Alex thought for a moment; the night before he'd thrown out an ice pack and he appeared to be favoring his left shoulder quite a bit. Could Umaga have messed his shoulder again? Surely not, everyone knows how bad Randy's shoulder is.

"Shoulder?" Alex asked as her companion reappeared.

"Yea," Randy muttered sitting down on the edge of the bed. His back was to Alex, he couldn't bear to look at her. Randy had hoped that he would be able to spend the week ignoring his shoulder especially since John was bound to ship him off to the doctor. Now he just prayed that Alex wouldn't think the same thing.

Randy knew his shoulder was messed up, he knew he'd probably need surgery and he knew that his career was more than likely over. He just wanted one more week, one more match before he had to give it all up.

Alex came up behind the man, whose head was now resting in his hands. She really didn't know what to do so she placed her hands on his back and began to massage. Alex knew what it felt like to have her world come crashing down around her and had a feeling that her companion was in that position. Randy gasped as Alex reached his left shoulder, the pain that simple touch caused was nearly unbearable.

"You know, you probably need to see a doctor about that," Alex said concerned.

"I'll go next week, right now I just want to forget. Besides I do believe you promised me whirlpool fun," Randy smirked hoping that Alex would forget about his situation and just let him have fun,

"So I did, it'll probably help your shoulder as well," Alex replied and began searching through her backpack.

While Alex was interested in getting know Randy she did not want to appear cheap and easy so she'd bought her swimsuit for the whirlpool. Understanding Alex's actions Randy automatically went to his bag and found a pair of shorts he could wear so that they could enjoy the whirlpool together.

Upon finding her swim suit Alex disappeared into the bathroom and began filling the tub while she changed. Once she was done she snuck a peek into the suite and watched as Randy heavily favored his injured shoulder. Alex was worried about him but knew it was not her place to push the matter.

When they were in the tub and beginning to relax Alex spoke,

"So how is John?"

"He's fine, going crazy not being able to do much though. I'm going to go keep him company next week," Randy smiled thinking about his friend going insane.

Both men were fitness freaks and always had to be moving, it was nearly as though they were ADHD. Randy found his friend's predicament hilarious until he thought of his shoulder. At least if Randy needed surgery they could keep each other company. John's dad would probably welcome the reprieve.

The two sat in the whirlpool talking for close to two hours. They found each other so easy to talk to and never ran out of things to say. Randy regaled Alex with stories of life on the road, the pranks he and his co-workers pulled and the stunts that nearly lost him his job. Alex spoke of locking co-workers in the freezer and purposely sending customers in the wrong direction. She mentioned her GPA and how a 4.0 seemed eternally out of reach even though it was what her parents expected of her. Randy felt a pang at his heart, he once had a 4.0 GPA and wondered once more if he should have used those good grades instead of following his father and grand-father's footsteps.

A/N: Merry Christmas Ash and everyone!

Oh yea I haven't forgotten The Engagement I've just been having some issues with it.

Also either Friday or next Wednesday I am having major knee surgery so I'll be out of action for a bit.


	6. Chapter 6

The rest of the week flew by and before they knew it Sunday had arrived and Randy was leaving that night. When Alex and Randy woke up that morning they lay in bed, neither wanting to open their eyes and face the day that was to come.

Lying with Alex pulled close Randy began to feel that familiar sinking feeling where his heart ended up in his stomach and his insides tied up in knots. It was the way he had felt for nearly three years, since the disaster with Sam. Randy was so used to feeling that way until he met Alex. The entire time he'd been in that woman's presence the knots had completely disappeared. Now they were coming back and Randy felt awful.

Randy pulled Alex closer and buried his face in her hair. He felt tears in his eyes and tried to blink them away. He didn't want to leave, the only thing he had to look forward to was another butt kicking by UMAGA and John forcing him off to the doctors. Randy subconsciously turned slightly to release the pressure on his shoulder. It had gotten worse over the past few days and Alex ended up having to buy him painkiller - something that Randy despised.

Alex felt Randy pull her closer and bury his face in her hair; she could hear him sniff back tears and knew she felt the same way. Over the past few days Alex had escaped from reality. Around Randy, Alex was no longer one of the guys. In Randy's eyes she was an angel and he treated her like so. Never in her life had Alex been treated like an angel, not even her father. Sure she was a Daddy's girl but it was in the tomboy sense of the word. Alex took the role of the boy that her daddy had always wanted and boys weren't angels. But Alex was quickly discovering that she enjoyed being treated like an angel.

The week had been amazing for the both of them; they'd escaped their own personal hells. Alex rolled over to face the man she had spent the last few days with. Aside from cuddling and tickling – something that Randy found gave him a great advantage - there had been very little physical contact between the two. Now facing the man she was nearly certain she had fallen for, Alex reached up and wiped a solitary tear from his face.

Their eyes locked and they knew that this would be the last time they would see each other for perhaps an eternity. As Randy stared in to the depths of Alex's brown eyes he wanted to be selfish – beg her to come to Raw with her, plead her to join him when he visited John. He wanted to ask her to drop everything and follow him around the world. Randy wished that he would never have to say goodbye to the woman he was nearly certainly in love with. But he was also realistic; he knew he could never be so selfish.

As Alex stared into Randy's blue eyes she silently begged him to ask her to go with him. She wanted nothing more than to have the opportunity to travel with Randy, go to work with him and meet John. Most of all she never wanted to say goodbye, but she knew that she could never ask. Alex figured that she was nothing more than something to do when Randy was on suspension. Even though there had been nothing physical it had been an emotionally intense time.

Randy couldn't find the right words to say, he wanted to ask her but knew he couldn't be selfish. He couldn't speak as he was afraid that he'd say something stupid. He found himself leaning in, he'd held off his desire to kiss Alex the whole trip. Randy hadn't wanted Alex to think that he was just after her for sex. There was so much more to Alex than just physical beauty, the last few days had confirmed that.

Simultaneously Alex found herself leaning oin; it was nearly as though there was a magnet pulling them to each other. There had been an undeniable tension between the two and it was finally beginning to bubble out of control. They were so close when like teenagers on their first date, they bumped heads.

After an awkward laughter Randy sighed and placed his hand around the back of Alex's neck before leaning in again. The man had never been nervous when it came to women but Alex made his palms sweat and heart beat a million times faster. Randy pulled Alex closer and finally their lips met softly. They pulled apart and locked eyes once more; they saw the depths of each other's souls. This time Alex lent in and the two found themselves kissing once more.

Alex's heart skipped a beat when she realized that she was in a lip lock with Randy Orton, the one and only Randy Orton. In the past Alex had barely noticed that her companion had been Randy Orton, his status and his fame had never been an issue. But in actuality Randy was a household name, he was famous and she was just Alex. Realizing this Alex pulled away; she couldn't become another ring rat, just another notch on his belt.

"What's wrong?" Randy was confused, things had been perfect and kissing Alex was a perfect end to a perfect vacation. But she had pulled away in fact she had pulled so far away she was no longer on the bed. Randy watched as the woman began to pack her bag.

"Alex, what's wrong?" Randy walked over to the woman, hoping to put a halt on her mad dash.

"This!"

"What?"

"This, all of this is wrong!"

"Why?"

"I'm not going to another notch on your belt," Randy pulled Alex around to face him.

There were tears in her eyes and Randy's heart broke.

"I don't understand."

"I am not a ring rat!" Alex hissed causing Randy to burst out laughing. The thought of Alex being a ring rat had never crossed his mind.

To Randy she was an angel; Alex was the woman that he had dreamt of his entire life. Alex was perfect and he would do anything to prove that to her.

"No your not,"

"You'd pull out all the lines just to get me into bed,"

"Alex you are not a ring rat, if I had just wanted to sleep with you I would have done so the first night we met and you would have never heard from me again."

Alex was angry, in the short time it had taken to pack she had convinced herself that Randy was evil and he wanted nothing more to use her for sex. After all that's what most guys wanted, sex. The woman didn't even look at Randy as she picked up her bags and left slamming the door behind her. Randy watched the door slam shut in utter confusion, he could not work out where things had gone wrong. One minute he was kissing an angel the next he was watching the devil depart.

Randy concluded that Alex was a nut case, a total psycho but for some reason that was okay. The man sat on the bed, head in hands and all he could think about was how he could get Alex back, how he could right the wrong that had been committed.

Suddenly Randy lifted his head, what was he doing just letting Alex walk out of his life? He had to go after her, chase her, and not let her leave. Randy raced out the room and reached the elevator just as the doors were closing. He locked eyes with Alex but before he could say anything she was gone. They were only on the 6th floor so Randy turned to the stairs, knowing that he could nearly beat the elevator to the lobby. Sure enough the man opened the door to the lobby just as Alex exited the elevator.

Alex saw Randy out of the corner of her eye and had to focus all her energy to keep walking.

_He followed me_kept running through the woman's mind. No one had ever followed when she walked out and Alex couldn't help but wonder if Randy truly was different.

Alex kept walking refusing to turn and face the man who was chasing her through the lobby calling her name. It wasn't until the calls stopped and the woman had reached the exit that she turned to see what had happened to the man.

What Alex saw made her chuckle; Randy was surrounded by security, hotel staff and fans. She wondered for a moment if he had consciously chased after her wearing nothing but his boxer shorts. Alex turned away once more and headed for her car and hopefully out of Randy's life for good.

Randy had gotten half way through the lobby when he was confronted first by the manager with security and fans quickly following.

"Sir, are youaware this is an expensive hotel? Your behavior is inappropriate as is your clothing," the manager addressed Randy. He looked down and realized that he was in fact in his boxer shorts; he had gotten so caught up in his chase that he had forgotten to put on clothes.

Looking down he remembered why he had differed from his normal boxer briefs, he had been trying to make Alex, more comfortable. He considered himself lucky, during the day he may wear boxer briefs but at night he slept in the nude. If things had heated up with Alex he probably would have been running through the hotel buck naked.

Randy saw Alex disappear out the front door and at the same time felt handcuffs around his wrist, he nearly snapped. The pain of his shoulders being pulled backwards was horrific. He knew he was going against hotel policy but arresting him for running around in his boxer shorts was ridiculous.

"Look are the handcuffs really necessary?"

"Sir this is considered indecent exposure, we are in our rights to arrest you," the rent-a-cop explained.

"Look I'm sorry, I'm going back up to my room. I will pack my bags and leave right now. You can even accompany me up if you wish. Just get the handcuffs off me," Randy replied staring him down. The rent-a-cop kept his face straight and Randy couldn't figure out whether or not he was a fan.

There was a pause before the rent-a-cop unlocked the handcuffs and let the man,

"Sorry Mr. Orton, but the manager insisted." Randy shrugged, he was just glad that he wasn't going to end up being arrested. Unfortunately someone was bound to have snapped a shot of the man in boxer shorts and even worse, in handcuffs. It wouldn't take long for the pictures to be all over the internet or for John and Vince to see them. There was no doubt in Randy's mind that his suspension was going to extended.

_BLAST ALEX!_ Randy cursed to himself as the security guard escorted him to his room. Then he cursed himself, why did he have to fall in love with a complete psycho. Randy sighed because he knew deep down that Alex was the furthest thing from a psycho, she was just scared after years of men treating her like crap.

The security guard insisted on waiting for Randy to change and pack so that he could escort him out of the hotel. Randy knew he had seriously messed up. His flight wasn't until that night. He thought about calling one of the people he knew who lived nearby but decided that there would be too many questions that he didn't feel like explaining.

There were plenty of restaurants and malls nearby but he really didn't feel like facing fans. Randy drove around town for a few minutes before noticing a building at the end of a street, a library! Randy never went to libraries but they were quiet and had plenty of dark corners he could hide in and have a nap.

It only took an hour and an half after the hotel incident for Randy's phone to start ringing off the hook, first John then WWE admin and texts from various friends and enemies. Finally he got sick of the constant vibration and turned his phone off, only turning it back on when trying to get hold of Alex. Randy swore he must have left about 100 messages and was beginning to understand how his dad or John felt when he didn't answer their calls.

That evening when the library closed Randy headed for the airport to check-in early before grabbing a bite to eat. He was catching a late flight to San Antonio, via Memphis. The man desperately tried one last time to get hold of Alex but she still wasn't answering. Sometime mid-afternoon Randy had given up leaving messages trying to get Alex to reply. Alex was bound to consider him a complete nutcase for leaving so many messages but he didn't care. All he focused on was getting Alex back.

Randy arrived in San Antonio around midnight and fully intended to slink off to his hotel room where he would stay until he was expected at the arena. Unfortunately his plans changed when he was met at the airport by Vince McMahon. To receive a call from admin was bad, to receive a call from Vince McMahon was worse but to have Vince meet you was horrific. Randy knew the second he saw the man that he was in more trouble that he had originally fathomed.

"I think you and I need to have a talk son," Vince sighed putting his arm around Randy's shoulder. Vince led Randy out to his rental. The boss had already collected the car for his employee and decided to drive Randy to his hotel.

The two had a private meeting in Randy's hotel room. Nearly like a father-son talk the two were together until 3am. Vince hated the fact that Randy kept making mistakes he was messing up but had the potential to be great. The fans loved him and the boys loved wrestling him, Vince couldn't figure out what was going wrong.

"I'm sorry Randy but I have no choice but to completely suspend you. 30 day full suspension, and another 30 days on your house-show suspension,"

"I understand sir," Randy sighed. He hated life and he had officially had the worst day ever.

The feelings he had before he met Alex were back. He wanted to end everything, Randy knew the second he got home the shame his father placed upon him would be horrific. Not to mention the lectures John was sure to have in store,

"Someone will be here to pick you up at 9am they will drive you to the airport. You're booked on a midday flight," Vince explained placing a hand on Randy's sore shoulder. Unknowingly Vince had placed his hand on Randy's injured shoulder causing him to yelp.

"And get that looked at while your home," Vince growled pulling Randy's shirt back to see the bruising on his shoulder.

"Yes sir,"

"Your mother will pick you up at the airport,"

"But sir I'm 27…" Randy began to protest that he could look after himself,

"Yes, but, you're acting 17. Are you going to be okay alone?" Vince asked genuinely concerned,

"Yea, I'll be right,"

"Okay 9a.m, I've ordered a wakeup call for you at 8am."

"Yes Sir" Randy muttered feeling completely miserable.

Minutes later Vince left and Randy found himself alone once more. Randy turned on his phone and found Alex's number. He listened for the predicted voicemail message beep to occur,

"Hey Alex, its Randy. This is the last time I call. I just wanted to let you know I've got a 30 day full suspension and another 30 days on my house suspension. I'll hopefully be with John during that time, if I can escape my family. Call me back please," Randy sighed ending the call.

Randy sighed and dialed the number of his best friend,

"About bloody time you rang!" John hissed sleepily.

"Yea, whatever"

"What's the verdict?"

"Full Suspension," Randy sighed,

"Idiot!" His friend hissed hanging up.


	7. Chapter 7

Alex saw her phone vibrating beside her. It was 3 am and no matter how hard she tried Alex just couldn't get to sleep. The scene from earlier in that day kept running through her head, she had messed up but didn't want to become just another ring rat. Finally the phone ceased vibrating before beeping and telling Alex that she had a voice mail message. She knew it was from Randy, they'd all been from Randy.

Alex moved her phone from hand to hand; she was scared to listen to the message. What did Randy have to say at 3 am? Finally, she listened to the message and felt horrible. He had chased after her and as a result his suspension had been extended. Tears welled in Alex's eyes but she blinked them back, she was being pathetic.

Randy's constant calls and distressed messages proved that he was either completely desperate for a one night stand or she had left one hell of a lasting impression. Alex knew that she couldn't avoid Randy for much longer and needed to return his constant phone calls. But at nearly 4 am she hoped that Randy had finally fallen asleep. Turning off the lights and closing her eyes Alex decided that she would ring the man in the morning.

In San Antonio, Randy finally reached the state of exhaustion and fell into a restless sleep. What was once his escape from reality became a nightmare reminding Randy of how much he had messed up. In his sleep he was confronted by his father and made to feel a complete failure because he was disgracing the Orton legacy.

By the time 8am came around Randy was readily welcoming his wake up call. After answering the phone he eagerly jumped out of bed and headed for the shower. By no means did Randy want to face his father but, at that moment, reality had to be better than the nightmare he had just experienced.

Randy stood under the shower for half an hour letting the hot water massage his aching shoulder. Once he was finished Randy got changed, he still had sometime before his ride arrived. Sitting down on the edge of the bed Randy sighed, at least he would have some time with his mom first. She would look after him and had always protected Randy from his father. No matter how horribly he messed things up, she still loved him and would welcome him home with open arms.

When Randy landed in Missouri he was met, the way that his mother had always met him, with open arms and a kiss. He felt safe in his mother's arms, as though everything was going to be okay.

"It's alright Hun; we'll get everything sorted out"

"Dad is angry isn't he?" Randy asked quietly as he grabbed his bag off the turn style.

"Yea but he'll get over it. He forgets that he was young once too,"

"I'm sorry mom," Randy muttered only to have his mother wrap him in another hug.

As Randy threw his backpack and travel bag in his mother's car he took a moment to pull his cell out of the side pocket. He'd turned it off when he had gone to bed and had not turned it back on. Randy decided that if he had to face his father he could face whoever wanted to yell at him. Ignoring the numerous texts, he had received as word of his suspension had gotten around; Randy noticed a solitary voicemail message,

"Hi Randy it's me um I mean Alex. You probably have tons of girls calling you so I should have said Alex to begin with. Okay that didn't come out right, I'm not good at this type of thing but I'm sorry."

Alex took a deep breath, "I should have listened to you or at least waited for you. Then you wouldn't have been suspended because of me. I'm sorry about that, you probably hate me," her voice cracked,

"Anyways I know you aren't going to call back but I figured I at least owed you an apology. I know saying sorry isn't going to make this better but it can't hurt. Just my luck it would make it worse. I had a good time with you this week thanks for letting me escape."

Listening to the message Randy sighed, the woman felt guilty for his suspension and no matter how much he tried Randy just couldn't blame her. It didn't matter that Randy was in the car with his mother, he had to call Alex back. Randy needed to let Alex know that she was not to blame for his latest mess up.

As he listened to the dial tone Randy's palms began to sweat, was Alex even going to answer?

"Hello?" Alex's sweet voice rang through the phone causing Randy's heart to jump,

"Alex?" He asked voice cracking.

"Yea," the woman replied. Randy thought she sounded tired and wondered if she had gotten much sleep the night before.

"It's Randy,"

"I know. I just didn't expect you to call. If you are planning to yell at me just hang up now,""I'm not going to yell at you. I don't want you to feel guilty for my actions."

"But I…"

"No buts, just listen. I am the biggest screw up in the world. I chose to follow you and I did so in my boxer shorts. When I did that I put myself and the WWE in hot water, I made those who I work with and for look bad. I never think about how my actions will affect those around me. You are by no means at fault for my suspension."

"Yes I am, you followed me."

"Because I couldn't let you walk out of my life."

"What?"

"If I had let you leave without following you I would have just proved you right. I had to try and show you that you are in no way, shape or form a ring rat."

Randy's comment was met with silence. Alex didn't know how to respond, he had followed her because he wanted to show that he was different. No one had ever done that. How could Alex respond, what was she meant to say?

"Alex?" Randy whispered after a couple of minutes of silence.

"I'm here,"

"I didn't want our time together to end. The best thing in my life lately has been going to sleep and waking up with you in my arms." As Randy blinked back a tear of frustration, tiredness and passion he felt a hand rest on his shoulder.

Randy had completely forgotten that he was in the car, with his mother no less. He had been putting everything out there with his mother able to hear the whole thing. Now instead of yelling at him for being so pathetic and not acting like a man she was attempting to comfort him. The man looked over at his mother and attempted a smile, the woman's small gesture meant more to her son than she could ever know.

"Look Alex, I have so much I want to say to you but over the phone is not a good way. I wanted to ask you this yesterday but I didn't want to be selfish. Come meet me in West Newbury…"

"What?" Alex couldn't believe what she had just been asked. Randy wanted her to visit him? Alex wasn't an idiot she knew who lived in West Newbury and it certainly wasn't Randy.

He must have been going to see John and wanted Alex to join him. It was what she had been praying he'd ask the day before and he never did.

"I'm going to stay with John. Come and spend some time with me. I don't want you out of my life but if you decide I am a complete freak and hate my guts I will accept it as long as you say it to my face."

"Randy I can't…" Alex began. She questioned why she was refusing the man; this is what she had wanted. But she couldn't sound too eager then Randy would think that she was a complete freak.

"I understand you might not be able to afford it but I am more than willing to pay," the comforting hand on Randy's shoulder lifted and smacked him across the back of the head. His mother may have been on his side but not even she approved of his impulse spending.

"I don't need you to pay for me," Alex hissed and Randy knew that he had over stepped his mark.

"No of course you don't. But I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get you to come," Randy explained attempting to backtrack.

"Don't you think it's a bit unfair?" Alex asked unable to keep her barriers up. Alex was frustrated; she just couldn't keep them up around Randy.

"What do you mean?"

"Two guys ganging up on one girl,"

"Then bring a friend,"

"I have no friends," Alex muttered. Randy only just heard her and like a chicken opted not to push the subject. He would hopefully have a chance later to bring up Alex's apparent despair.

"Look Alex you can spend all day making up excuses but the bottom line is that I will do anything to get you to come." Randy sighed, he was exhausted and the game that Alex was playing was making things worse.

"When?"

"When what?" Randy asked thrown back by the question.

"When do you want me to come?"

"I'm going on Wednesday, why don't you come on Thursday." What followed was a long pause that nearly killed Randy. After a moment he thought he could hear fingers tapping on a keyboard.

"Alright," Alex finally sighed. Randy felt like leaping for joy, the woman had not just agreed to give him a second chance but also to meet his best friend, the man that was key judge on all the women Randy dated.

Randy noticed that his mother had pulled into an Applebee's' parking lot and automatically knew that she was seeking some private time with her son. Taking the subtle hint Randy ended his call and got out of the now parked car.

"So who is Alex?" Randy's mom asked as they began to read their menus.

"A girl I met in Minnesota,"

"Ah, the real reason behind your mysterious trip" Randy's mother smirked having sought a glance into her son's soul.

"Something like that," Randy said before turning to the waiter who had arrived to take their order, "I'll have a Miller Lite thanks…"

"I think not Randall! You can have a soda…" Randy rolled his eyes at his mother, everybody seemed to forget he was 27 not 10.

"When you drink you just get into trouble. You can have a coke,"

"I'll have a diet coke thanks," Randy sighed turning his attention back to the waiter. The waiter snickered, a few minutes later he returned with the drinks allowing to the two to order their meals.

"Randy, I love you but I cannot believe that you are going to disappear again. Your father is going to be furious," Randy's mother started when they found themselves left alone.

"Yea well there is nothing he can do about it," Randy replied playing with the sugar packets, "I'm an adult, and dad has no say over what I do with my spare time,"

"Vince wants to change that, they're all worried about you."

"I don't care anymore. I just want to live my own life. I'm so sick and tired of trying to please dad, I could become the world champion tomorrow and he still wouldn't love me,"

"Is that what all of this is about? Your behavior and your moods are about your dad loving you?" Randy hung his head and just shrugged.

"Randy, your dad loves you. Your actions upset him but he still loves you, no matter what you do he'll still love you,"

"Yea, well he sure as hell doesn't show it."

"He just wants the best for you, we all do. Vince said you're favoring your shoulder," Randy's mom said changing the subject slightly,

"Yea, so?"

"He wants you to see a doctor. Your father and I agree,"

"What is this gang up on Randy day?"

"No but, we love you and we care about you. If your shoulder is injured it needs to be fixed. You know what the doctor said, you can't risk another shoulder injury, if you keep putting it off it'll just get worse."

"I'm going to see John's doctor," Randy muttered accepting the meal the waiter handed him, "what? He is a good doctor," Randy snapped in response to his mother's raised eyebrow.

"I just question whether or not you'll actually see him,"

"Look mom, you know John, you know that if he see's I'm injured there is no way in hell he's going to let me get away with it. If you don't believe me you can always call and tell him I'm injured yourself," Randy sighed as he toyed with the food on his plate.

Randy wondered if being injured could be a good thing. If his shoulder was so messed up that he couldn't wrestle then he couldn't mess up anymore. Then he wouldn't disappoint his dad and he could hopefully live the rest of his life anonymously.

"You know, having a permanent shoulder injury could be a good thing," Randy finally admitted out loud.

"Yea, I can see that… Give up your career and your livelihood. Not being able to do much with your life because of your injury. What about if you have kids? You will never be able to play sports with them…"

"Yea but I will stop disappointing dad," Randy's mom reached out and took hold of her son's hand. All of a sudden Randy's hard exterior disappeared and his face crumbled. His mom abandoned her side of the table and went to comfort her son. Within seconds Randy had gone from being a man with the weight of the world on his shoulder to Mrs. Orton's baby boy.

Their meals were forgotten and once Randy calmed down they headed home. Randy began to doze off on the short ride so when they got home his mom gave him another hug saying,

"Your dad is out, go and have a nap,"

"I love you munchkin," the woman called as Randy headed for his old bedroom. The man rolled his eyes, he had been 'munchkin' ever since he was born and despite his height, size and age she still called him that. The last 24 hours had been exhausting, Randy went upstairs and sat on the bed in order to remove his shoes. However, he quickly found himself lying down and within seconds Randy was asleep, his shoes still waiting to be removed.


	8. Chapter 8

Randy was woken a couple of hours later with the roar of his father downstairs, the man was home and more than prepared to make his presence known,

"WHERE IS HE? I WILL KILL HIM!"

"Calm down Bob, he's asleep," Elaine, Randy's mother, cooed attempting to calm the angry man. Randy groaned and pulled the blankets over his head, he felt like a kid in trouble.

Whenever he'd gotten in trouble at school his mom would send him to his room until his father got home. Randy would always hide under his blankets. It wouldn't give him much protection from his father's wrath but he felt save within the confines his blankets.

"I don't care if he is asleep he can face the music, he's been running too long!"

"Wait Bob, leave him alone. You are not going to make things any better by yelling at him. He's an adult, he's injured and he was in tears today telling me how you don't love him."

While Randy could hear his father's yelling, he couldn't hear his mother's responses and it was sending him mad, what was she saying to the man? Was she supporting him or was she supporting Randy?

"If he can't act like an adult I won't treat him like one! I don't care if he's injured!"

"Just remember injured or not he is your son, you raised him well and he can hurt you a lot worse than you can hurt him." From Randy's position he could hear his father's threat and no response. Randy soon heard footsteps thumping up the stairs and turned his back to the wall. He attempted to calm his breathing and prayed that his father would think he was asleep and leave him to it.

Unfortunately Randy's door was soon swung open and his angry father was in the door way. Anger quickly boiled in Randy and without thinking he was to his feet and ready to actually confront his father. Instead of waiting for his father to address his failures Randy faced his father staring him down.

"What the HELL were you thinking?" Bob hissed at his son,

"That she couldn't leave!"

"Why can't you think with your brain not your dick?"

"It's not like you've never messed up,"

"Yea, but I grew up!"

"Not at my age you weren't, at my age you were going out with the boys drinking most nights."

"At your age I had a job, a wife and kid to support,"

"Try again; I wasn't born until you were 30! You still had plenty of time to go out, party and make mistakes and that's exactly what you did. So get off my case, let me make my own mistakes. I'm an adult; I don't need you holding my hand, telling me what I can or can't do. I'll grow up; you've just got to give me a chance,"

"The difference was my mistakes weren't broadcast all over the world. You represent the biggest wrestling country in the world; you can't afford to make mistakes,"

"So what you are pretty much saying is that I can't afford to be human?"

"Not if you keep making mistakes."

Randy looked his father up and down before, brushing past the man on his way to the door.

"What the hell are you doing?" Bob asked his son,

"Leaving before I make another mistake." Randy hissed as he walked out of the door leaving his father stunned. Randy walked downstairs and to the kitchen, on the key hook was his car keys; lately his parents had been keeping his car at their place while he was away.

"Randy, where are you going?" Elaine asked her son as he stormed past,

"Home, I really need to get some clean clothes"

"When is your flight? I'll take you to the airport,"

"You can pick me up 8am," Randy sighed looking at his mother. He lent down and kissed her cheek gently before heading out the door, grabbing his bag along the way.

Randy drove back to his place musing over his anger at his father. He'd finally stood up to the man and he felt it deep in his gut. The guilt began to flow through Randy and he wanted to throw up. The only thing keeping the man somewhat sane was that he had shown restraint and not introduced his fist to his father's face.

When Randy arrived home he automatically smelt something stale and rotting but his shoulder was hurting and he decided a shower was more important. Besides, showers had always made him feel a million times better. Randy must have stood under the hot stream for close to an hour, he couldn't help play the argument with his father over and over in his head.

Once the man was finally able to move on from his father his mind conjured images of Alex. It was slowly sinking in that the woman had agreed to give him a second chance. Randy was prepared to do whatever he had to, to get the girl on his side. Something told him that she was the one and he hoped that introducing her to John would help other's realize this. After all it was only the girls who meant something to him that met John; the last girl his friend had met was Samantha.

Randy wondered if John would realize this and not make him look like a fool. At this thought Randy jumped out of the shower and went to call his friend but thought better of it, he could talk to John tomorrow. Randy hoped that if he bought up the issue in person, aside from some private ribbing, John would show his decent side.

Seeing as Randy was already out of the shower he headed to find some food and ice for his aching shoulder. The ice was easily found; he had plenty of ice packs from his previous surgeries. However, when Randy opened the fridge, the rotting smell became overwhelming and he quickly closed the door.

Having decided that eating his own food was too dangerous Randy ordered a pizza and put a DVD on. He was tired and was more than ready to relax a little, especially since he knew that John was going to ride him about his shoulder and Alex. After Randy completely destroyed his pizza he headed to bed and was out like a light.

The next morning Randy's shoulder was stiff and he pulled himself out of bed and into a hot shower. With breakfast, cereal with water – Randy wasn't game to venture into the fridge again; he took a couple of Tylenol hoping that it would take the edge off his shoulder.

His mother picked him up right at 8am; the car ride was somewhat quiet until halfway to the airport,

"Mom, there's something toxic in my kitchen and it stinks, it's going to take over my whole house. Would you clean it for me?" Randy asked his mother,

"Please Mommy for your baby boy?" He pushed before the woman had any chance to protest,

"Randall!"

"I love you Mommy," he said leaning over and kissing her cheek.

"You aren't my baby boy."

"I am too," he protested.

"No Nathan is my baby boy. You are my little munchkin," his mother replied pinching his cheek.

"I was baby boy until Nate came around." He whined.

"No you weren't you were always my little munchkin." she said.

"I hate being the oldest." he whined.

Randy knew that his mom would clean, not just his kitchen, but his entire house, including doing the pile of disgusting smelly washing that had been taking up a corner of his bathroom for the past month, only to be added to whenever he came home. The downside of having a lot of money meant that he had way too many clothes; he could not wash for over a month and still have plenty of clean clothes.

An hour and a half later Randy sat on the plane waiting for it to take off, he was in business class so the seats didn't cause too much pain to his shoulder. As the plane took off the man found himself looking at the sling he was wearing, and he smiled having noticed something he hadn't seen before. Written on the inside of his sling were the words, "Dream, Live, Fly", Alex had said those words to him the day he'd opened up about his father.

He remembered it perfectly, he was sitting on the bed, Alex beside him and he broke down in tears. Alex had dropped down on her knees in front of him and said, "Dream, Live, Fly". Randy was immediately confused and the two found themselves in hysterics at the randomness of Alex's statement. She had nothing to follow up those three simple words.

Randy smiled remembering that morning, how the small moment of sincerity soon turned into silliness and they spent the rest of the day laughing. Looking at the writing on his sling Randy knew that whatever happened it was going to be a good day. He'd have a day with John, catching up with his best friend then Alex would arrive and the three of them would have a blast.

When they landed in West Newbury Randy was racing to be one of the first off the plane, and his seat was prime position for doing just that. The man raced down to the baggage claim, he hated airports and knew that if he got caught up in the ground he'd be stuck for hours. John was waiting for his best friend, he was still wearing the sling from his pectoral surgery but Randy figured it was just because he was in public. The two men embraced and when they pulled away John pulled back his good arm to slap his friend on the shoulder,

"Gotcha!" John laughed as Randy flinched. He'd packed away his own sling before the plane landed; Randy had hoped that no one had told John about his injury.

"Vince and your mom both called to make sure that I'd take you to the doctors. I, personally, don't see why you won't just go, you know the longer you put it off the worse it'll be," John sighed grabbing his friend's bag off the baggage claim belt.

"Maybe I want to be injured," Randy muttered to his friend's back. Luckily John didn't hear otherwise he'd have been on Randy's back the entire trip.

The two headed to John's car in relative silence, they didn't like catching up that much in public because of nosey fans. In fact they came across one that decided to express their feelings on John carrying Randy's bag, to which he was greeted with two middle fingers.

"So when do I get to meet this chick you're all hot for?" John asked as he threw Randy's bag in the car and headed for the driver's seat. John took a look at his friend, he was pale and his eyes were sunken in and tired. But, at the mention of Alex, there was a slight spark. John had only ever seen Randy's eyes spark like that with one other person, Samantha. He realized then that his best friend was serious about the girl.

"Her name is Alex and she's coming to stay with us, her flight arrives 5pm tomorrow,"

"She's coming to stay? Haven't you ever heard of asking before inviting someone to MY house?" John asked raising an eyebrow and leaning out the window to pay the airport parking ticket.

"Why would I do that?" Randy asked as they pulled away from the airport,

"Oh, I don't know because it's the POLITE thing to do?"

"Nah!" The two kept talking, catching up on the past couple of weeks. Randy sighed, he was with his best friend and things were starting to calm down. While John was bound to lecture him sooner or later, right at that moment things were perfect. It was like old times again, before Randy started screwing up and John got injured.

A lull in the conversation caused Randy to look around at his surroundings. He was immediately confused, they were nowhere near John's place,

"Where are we going?" Randy asked looking back at his friend.

"What? You thought I'd take you back to my place and give you time to convince me that you didn't need to go to the doctor? Nice try!" Randy hung his head, the good time was about to come to an end,

"I was at least hoping you'd be willing to wait until Alex came, so she could hold my hand?" Randy shrugged and smiled slightly.

"Aww, little Randy wants his girly to hold his hand? How cute! You're like a little boy needing his mommy."

"Hey, there is nothing wrong with a little boy needing his mommy! I love my mommy and she is cleaning my house for me!" John snorted shaking his head; his friend really was being pathetic but John was noticing the signs of a man in love.

Randy realized that John had pulled into a parking lot and his heart began to beat faster, he didn't want anything to do with doctors. As long as Randy was injured he didn't have to wrestle, which meant he didn't have to represent the WWE, which meant he couldn't screw up any further. Reluctantly Randy followed John into the building and waited as John signed him in and filled out the required forms, not a word was shared between the two. Randy sighed realizing just how well John and he knew each other.

Five minutes later a nurse came out and took Randy back for some x-rays and an MRI. Once the tests were done he and John were taken into a private room, everybody was ensuring that Randy was never left alone so that he couldn't do a runner. Sitting on the table kicking his legs out at John, Randy wondered just how many people were plotting against him.

Finally a doctor walked in a John jumped up to shake hands with the man,

"Randy I'd like you to meet, Dr. James Andrews, Dr. Andrews this is my friend Randy."

"Yes we've met before, he was the one who recommended me remember?" Dr. Andrews shook his head at John,

"Oh yea"

"It's nice to see you again Randy, let's look at that shoulder of yours shall we?" What followed was 20 minutes of painful poking, prodding and stretching of Randy's injured shoulder.

"You have clearly done some serious damage,"

"Well Duh!" Randy hissed before being hit across the back of the head by John.

"I am nearly 100 certain that you will need surgery we just need to wait for your MRI results, to see the full extent of the damage, which will probably be ready tomorrow or the next day."

"What if I don't want surgery?" Randy asked defiantly. He was taking the opportunity to discover all of his options. He'd decided on the plane that having to give up wrestling wouldn't actually be that terrible and he was prepared to give it up.

"Over the next couple of months you will lose complete function of your arm. This surgery wouldn't necessarily be about getting you back to wrestling; it would be giving you some sort of quality of life. Your shoulder is in really bad shape, surgery and physical therapy should get it to a good functioning level. If you work extremely hard and you get very, very, very lucky you may be able to wrestle again, but there is no guarantee." Randy's heart dropped into his stomach and he wanted to vomit, he knew that having an injured shoulder would mean no wrestling; he didn't realize that it would mean so much more.

"Okay so where do we go from here?" Randy asked as he felt a hand on his good shoulder, he had completely forgotten that John was still in the room.

"When you leave, go to the reception desk and make two appointments. One in a couple of days, for us to look at your MRI and the second for your surgery, I'm here for a couple of weeks so we'll fit you in. If we don't operate soon, there is going to be no chance to repair it."

Randy didn't say a word the entire ride back to John's place. John was worried about his friend, the fact that he was tempted to completely blow off the surgery had John freaked. He knew that Randy would probably only open up to him, especially since he was fighting with his father. The question of Randy's wrestling future needed to be bought up but John decided that the last thing Randy needed was his best friend nagging him.

The two ordered Chinese and sat down in front of John's flat screen TV watching DVDs the rest of the night. When Randy fell asleep John left him to it and headed to bed. The next day Randy's attitude hadn't changed and much of the day was spent in a solemn silence, but they had spent many days on the road in similar fashion. The only time that Randy perked up was when it came time to head to the airport.

The second Randy saw Alex he jumped in excitement and ran towards her. John smiled as he watched the two hover awkwardly before hugging. It was clear to see what had sparked Randy's immediate interest in the woman, she was beautiful and unique. John thought that she was Diva material, Randy thought that she was an angel, Alex was just excited that she was about to spend time with her two favorite wrestlers.


	9. Chapter 9

While Randy was fighting with his father and being dragged to the doctor Alex was dealing with her own dramas. When she had gone back to work her boss had offered her an alternative; resign or be fired. Alex quickly offered her resignation and said goodbye to her co-workers. She was then called to the Dean's office at school; he wanted to discuss her behavior. Just because she'd used a few choice words to express her views to one of her professors, the Dean wanted to put Alex on probation.

Alex was officially beyond caring, it was finals week and she had already finished all of her exams. It didn't matter if she was on probation the next semester; all of her subjects were online.

Despite everything Alex tried to think positively. She may have run away from Randy but it was only because she was scared. Alex had made up the ring rat argument to hide how she really felt. Truth be told she had never felt such strong feelings for anyone before, especially after knowing them only a few days.

Alex couldn't believe Randy hadn't blamed her for his suspension, instead he begged for her to come and stay with him. She spent the whole plane ride jumping in her seat. Alex was so excited she found it impossible to sit still, and then the thought crossed her mind, what if this was just a joke? What if Randy had invited her as a joke? What if he just got her to come so that he and John could make a fool out of her? As the plane landed Alex tried to push those thoughts out of her mind, surely Randy wasn't that kind of guy.

Unfortunately Alex's seat was near the rear of the plane and it took what felt like an eternity for the woman to finally reach the baggage claim. She saw Randy standing with John near the baggage belt and couldn't help but smirk at the sight, two men both wearing slings, they looked as hopeless as each other. Randy rushed towards the woman and paused, the two remembered their last meeting, and how Randy had run through the hotel in his boxer shorts.

"So, you couldn't let me leave?" Alex asked quietly, Randy shrugged slightly and smirked.

"What can I say? I know what I want." Randy opened his arms and Alex fell into his arms.

They remained in their silent embrace for several minutes,

"There's someone I want you to meet," Randy said as he took Alex's hand and pulled her over to where John was standing,

"Alex I'd like you to meet my best friend, John,"

"Ah so you're the sucker that actually puts up with Dall ay?" John and Randy raised their eyebrows.

"Dall?" Randy asked,

"Yea, I put up with him but you're the one who's come to see him, what does that tell you?" John replied ignoring Randy.

"What can I say? I must be a bigger sucker then," Alex shrugged, "but it's Dall, he could charm the pants off Vince McMahon, I'm just the one to fall for it this time,"

"Again with this Dall thing?" Randy butted in only to be ignored once more,

"Oh I know I've seen him do it and trust me it's not a pretty sight. I don't blame you girl, he's got the gift of the gab…"

"Only problem is that he's full of crap," Alex smirked.

John turned to his friend,

"I think I like this girl," he smirked before putting his arm around Alex and heading to the car leaving Randy left to carry her bag.

"Hey, hands off she's mine!" Randy cried running to catch up. Alex laughed at Randy's reaction and continued listening to John. Randy may have had the gift of the gab and been full of it but he was no match for John. Every word to come out of his mouth was crap and Alex soon found herself in hysterics. It was no wonder the two men were such good friends.

Randy caught up and thrust Alex's bag into John's chest forcing him to remove his arm from Alex's shoulders and take the bag. It wasn't long before Alex felt an arm wrap around her waist, when she looked at its owner she was glad to see that it belonged to Randy. Sure John made her laugh but he wasn't the man she'd come to see. Alex reached behind her back and took Randy's hand dropping it unceremoniously by the man's side.

"BURN!" John laughed noticing Alex's reaction. Smirking, the woman slipped her hand into Randy's and kept walking.

Alex wanted nothing more than to have Randy's arm around her but didn't want to seem too eager. Besides the spark and heat caused by Randy's hand was nearly unbearable and the intensity freaked Alex out.

Alex spent the ride to John's as spectator, watching the two men interact. At some stages Alex found herself questioning whether she was in the car with men or little boys. A couple of times she found herself fearing for her life as Randy would do something to John and he would be distracted from the road, not to mention the times that Randy attempted to take the steering wheel. They decided to stop for dinner on the way and Alex felt like she was with her nephews. Both men had asked for the color-in kids menus and had a competition while waiting for their meals. Alex attempted to pretend not to notice but as soon as John realized he kept addressing her in a loud voice. The woman had never been more embarrassed in her life.

"Here Randy, you can take her bag in," John announced throwing Alex's bag at his friend after arriving at his place. Alex looked at the sprawling house in front of her, it was huge.

"Alex, are you going to share a room with Randy or would you like me to set up another one for you?"

"Umm…" Alex didn't know how to answer. What did Randy want? If she said that she wanted to stay with Randy would he think she was being too eager? Alex wanted to stay with Randy, waking up in his arms was the best feeling in the world. But what would Randy think?

"Make up the room next to mine for her, a girl needs her privacy," Randy finally spoke up before throwing John the bag and following him into the house.

Alex stood momentarily stunned before Randy turned back and grabbed her hand,

"Come on, I'll show you around." Alex shivered with excitement as she glanced down at the large hand encompassing her own. Randy took Alex straight upstairs to a hallway leading to numerous rooms.

"At the end is John's room, then his office and workout room. I would show you but seriously, there is not a strong enough gas mask in the world to block out the stench. Plus knowing John he

probably hasn't cleaned since long before his surgery. Not even his house keeper will venture anywhere near those three rooms."

"If_ someone_ would have told me I was having company I would have cleaned," John called up the stairs,

"Dude, you don't even clean for your girlfriend! That's why she stays downstairs,"

"Not anymore, we broke up!"

"Yea, because you wouldn't clean your damnroom!"

"Bloody sympathetic friend you are! Anyway you don't even clean your room, your mommy does!" John said pushing Randy as he reached the top of the stairs.

"At least it gets cleaned!" Alex stood there watching the two men argue and wondered if they remembered that she was still there. John walked over to Alex and put his arm around her shoulder,

"Come on, I'll show you the good stuff," he smiled and led Alex up the hall,

"This is my awards room, as you can see it is kind of full." Alex rolled her eyes at his arrogant tone then dropped her eyes. How was she meant to behave around these two? She was a nobody and they were WWE superstars.

"Hey, relax girl, we are total dorks, dinner should have shown you that. Let me show you the room my friends spend the most time in," John smiled and led Alex to the door closet to the stairs,

"The game room!" He said and threw a nearby tennis ball at Randy, who was playing pinball.

Randy simply showed his appreciation with a middle finger.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?"

"Yea actually, thanks for the reminder; I'm having drinks with my brothers and cousin tonight! See you later Alex," John then smirked grabbing Randy's head and planting a kiss on his lips. Randy jumped back in shock, his friend had pulled similar stunts in the past and Randy really didn't appreciate it.

"Umm… Okay then!" Alex said beginning to back away.

Alex followed Randy and John downstairs and began to wander around as Randy gave his friend a piece of his mind. She couldn't believe what she'd just witnessed, John kissing his friend? Were they gay? Were they bi? Did Randy just want Alex around to involve her in some kinky scenario those two had cooked up?? There had been plenty of rumors about the two and Alex was starting to think that they just might be true. Finally Randy came back in yelling some final choice words as John drove away.

"Sorry about that, John's a jackass sometimes. Let me show you to your room," Randy said awkwardly. His confidence around Alex had completely disappeared when John pulled his little stunt.

A million thoughts ran through Randy's mind as he led Alex to the guest room.

"The bathroom connects with my room," Randy attempted a smile as he showed the bathroom and the connection to his room,

"The guest bathroom has a whirl pool?" Alex said turning around and smiling at Randy. She remembered the whirl pool at the hotel they'd stayed at in Minnesota.

"Well John renovated this room with me in mind," Randy shrugged before returning to Alex's room.

"Have you been to the doctor?" Alex asked as Randy adjusted his sling. She knew she may have been pushing matters asking about his shoulder but she cared about him.

"Yea, John dragged me to Dr. Andrews yesterday," Randy responded sitting on the bed, his face had immediately clouded over and Alex knew it wasn't good news. The woman sat down next to Randy.

"What did he say?"

"Surgery ASAP, how long will you be here?" Randy asked looking sadly into Alex's eyes,

"As long as you'll have me,"

"What about work and school?"

"They're no longer a concern."

The two sat on the bed in silence; neither really knew what to say. Randy rung his hands together nervously, he wanted to ask her something but was afraid of what she'd say. Since John's stunt she had completely frozen up, especially whenever he attempted to touch her.

"If I asked you to stay with me after the surgery would you?" Randy finally whispered nervously. He was asking a big favor and for all he knew she was ready to make a fast escape.

"If you wanted me too, yeah," she whispered. Randy felt slightly more confident and he reached his hand up to cup Alex's face.

Slowly he lent in and brushed his lips against hers. Last time the two had kissed Alex had done a runner; he silently prayed that this time the woman would stay.

"What was that?" Alex asked as Randy pulled away. Randy's mind automatically conjured the worst case scenario, she was going to run away or even worse she was going to call the police. Instead Alex, conjuring up all the nerve she had, grabbed Randy's face and passionately kissed him.

Once they finally pulled apart they were once again sitting nervously, neither knowing what to say. Randy mentally kicked himself, he felt like a teenager on a first date. Alex wasn't in much better shape. Eventually Alex yawned, she'd had very little sleep the last few days and it was getting to her,

"Tired?" Randy asked putting an arm around the woman and letting her lean on his good shoulder.

"Yea,"

"Well why don't you lie in bed and watch a movie?" Randy suggested secretly hoping that she would ask him to join her.

"When will John be back?"

"Probably not until the morning, he's likely to stay at one of his brother's," Randy rolled his eyes at his friend's idiotic antics but knew that he wasn't much better.

"There's no TV in here,"

"There is a big screen in my room,"

"Well then I guess you'll have to join me,"

Randy smiled as Alex kicked off her shoes and headed for the other room. They'd decided to watch Fifty First Dates, a movie that Randy was somewhat ashamed to admit he had in his collection. While Randy was setting up the film Alex looked around the room. The few posters and clothes on the floor gave the room a homey feel. Pictures of John and Randy and some other guys were scattered throughout the room as well. In all it looked nothing like the bare guest room on the other side of the bathroom. The room actually looked like Randy lived there on a full time basis and Alex figured that it was his second home; she wondered why Randy and John didn't just live together all the time.

"Does John have his own room at your place?" Alex asked Randy as he walked in from getting some popcorn,

"His own floor is more like it."

"Why don't you guys just live together and save money?"

"Honestly? We'd kill each other," Alex couldn't help but giggle. She could definitely relate to that comment but she couldn't afford her own home.

It was living together that had put a real strain on her and Jamie's relationship. They'd managed for 6 months before getting so close to killing each other that Alex decided to move back home. Jamie unfortunately got to keep the flat and their relationship hadn't been the same since.

"Would you do me a favor?" Alex asked as Randy lay down beside her.

"What?"

"Take your shirt off? I love lying against your bare chest," Alex blushed causing Randy to do the same,

"No problem," he said sitting up and unbuttoning his shirt, in the process he removed his sling as well. Soon Alex was lying against Randy's chest as the two watched the movie.

It didn't take long for Alex's breathing to calm and her to fall asleep. Randy smiled and played with her hair slightly. To him this was perfect; he was with the only girl he wanted to be with, everything else he'd done seemed like nothing at that moment.


	10. Chapter 10

John arrived home around 1am, he'd told Randy that he was going for drinks with his brothers but in reality had scored a date with his Physical Therapist, Ashley. John really liked Ashley and wanted to take things slow. He'd been feeling pangs of loneliness lately and was starting to think that maybe it was time for him to get his act together and settle down. As a result instead of wining and dining Ashley in order to get her into bed John met her for drinks and a couple of games of pool at a bar. Of course that didn't mean the two didn't end up taking a late night stroll through the park. But, other than a kiss on the cheek goodnight John didn't make any progress and he was alright with that.

Walking in his front door John rolled his eyes as he noticed that all the lights were still on, it was something Randy always did when John was out. It was nearly as though Randy was afraid of the dark despite his claims that he was trying to make it easier for his friend. John wandered through the bottom floor of his house turning off the lights. Deciding to check up on his friend John ducked his head into Randy's room and smiled, Randy was sound asleep with Alex in his arms. They both looked completely at peace.

The next morning John was sitting at the breakfast in his boxer shorts reading the newspaper and pouring his second cup of coffee down his throat when Alex stumbled out of Randy's room.

"Morning sunshine," he smiled glancing over. John found himself doing a double take; Alex was wearing a blue tank top and matching short boxer shorts, she was gorgeous despite her hair being messed up. John mentally kicked himself, he was starting to think about Alex in ways no man should ever think of his best friend's girl.

"Coffee?" Alex grunted causing John to have to bite back a laugh as he pointed to the coffee pot.

"Cups?" She hissed causing John to jump up and get Alex a cup. He was quickly learning that messing with or engaging in conversation with before-coffee-Alex was a very bad idea.

John watched as Alex gulped a cup of coffee before pouring another one and doing the same.

"Oh, good morning," she smiled at John before grabbing another cup and filling it, taking both freshly filled cups back into the bedroom.

"Coffee," Alex said putting Randy's cup down and flicking the man's nose.

Alex received a response of garbled rubbish,

"You want John to stick what where now? Is that even possible?"

"When you know John as long as I have you'll know that anything is possible," Randy muttered still not opening his eyes, however he did roll onto his back stretching out his arm searching for the coffee. Alex bent down and smirking pushed the cup just out of the man's reach. Alex had learnt of Randy's morning attitude when they'd stayed together in Minnesota and just as much as she hated people screwing with her before coffee she loved screwing with Randy.

"Damn you girl!" Randy cried exasperated as he pulled himself up and looked for his coffee, "I hate you," he muttered as his hands finally took hold of his coffee.

"So then why am I here?" Alex smirked attempting to push the niggling thoughts out of her head. He said he hated her? She had pushed things too far; he was going to kick her out. She tried to stop the thoughts but they had already over taken her mind.

"To bring me coffee," Randy sighed, putting his drink down, "and because, I just can't get you off my mind." Randy reached out and took hold of Alex pulling her onto his lap.



"No, you just want the coffee don't you?"

"Hun, I can get John to bring me coffee. But there is nothing like waking up next to you,"

"Well you could wake up next to John," Alex smirked. The negative thoughts running through her mind were beginning to fade.

"Wake up next to him? Hell no! You'd be scarred for the rest of your life, trust me I know." Randy smiled and reached up to caress Alex's cheek. He lent up slightly and pulled Alex down in a quick kiss. 

Alex pushed the last negative thought out of her head, at least temporarily, and nervously deepened the kiss, hoping that Randy wouldn't push her away. Instead he returned the kiss with even more passion.

"ORTON, would you PLEASE close your door? I have NO interest in seeing you two going at it,"

"Screw you Cena," Randy called back as Alex dropped her head on his chest in embarrassment.

"Maybe when you're not so busy" John popped his head and waved at his friend, "Aw, Alex don't be embarrassed. At least you have clothes on," Randy grabbed the closest object and hurled it at John hitting the door when John quickly pulled it closed.

"YOU OWE ME 5 for that cup!" John called through the closed door with laughter in his voice.

Alex rolled off Randy in embarrassment; she couldn't believe that John had caught them making out.

"Hey, it's alright. John's just being a dork. I've walked in on him during much worse situations. Trust me, that's another thing that you never want to see. Actually you know what? I think I could make some shrink a fortune with the amount of things he has tortured me with," Randy asked putting his arm around Alex and letting her curl up against him.

After a couple of minutes they began to drift off again. The coffee, while affective wasn't enough to keep them awake when they were curled up together. John gave them another half an hour of quiet; he knew that he had completely ruined Randy's chance of getting action. But, it was going to be a tough day for his friend and he needed the time with Alex.

Deciding to air on the side of caution John knocked on Randy's door,

"GET LOST!" Randy yelled at his friend.

"I'd love to, but you two have got to get up!" John replied pushing open the door. He decided that they'd had enough time to separate from whatever 'awkward' situation they may have gotten themselves into.

"Cena, would you please put a shirt on? You don't want to blind Alex now do you?" Randy asked pulling himself into a seated position.

John looked down and saw broken pieces of the cup that Randy had thrown earlier; stepping over them he walked over to the bed and sat down.

"I work shirtless it's not like she hasn't seen it before."

"Yea, but you're so damn pale in real life. Anyway why the hell are you disturbing us?"

"Because I have to drop someone off at the doctors, and then go to physical therapy, then pick said _someone_ up from the doctors and probably get made to buy them lunch. So hurry your ass up!"



"Why don't you just let Randy take himself to the doctors? I'll go with him and make sure he goes," Alex asked.

"Because you don't know the way and he'll trick you out of going. I'm going to go finish getting ready. We have to leave in half an hour," John hissed getting annoyed. He turned and headed out of the room,

"Oh and clean this crap up before that girl of yours cuts herself!" John said slamming the door behind him.

Randy dropped back down and covered his eyes sighing. He felt Alex move beside him and quickly realized she was getting up to clean the mess. Randy grabbed her arm and decided to demonstrate some level of chivalry.

"You go and have a shower, I'll clean that up," Alex looked down and smiled at Randy's exasperation. Carefully she leant down and gently pressed her lips against Randy's before heading to the shower.

When Randy heard the bathroom door closed he got up and began to clean the mess. He couldn't help but smile as he picked up the ceramic pieces. The last few hours had been perfect and waking up with Alex was the best feeling in the world. Ever since Randy made eye contact with Alex at the airport things had been just right. Somehow being around Alex made the horrible things disappear. Randy could deal with his shoulder, fighting with his father and John being a real jackass when Alex was around. It scared him slightly, Randy already knew that he was completely smitten with the woman but he wondered if he was becoming reliant on her.

Alex got into the shower grinning ear to ear, she never smiled but around Randy she couldn't help herself. Even John was making her smile, for once she wasn't being treated like one of the guys. The two men were treating Alex like royalty, though at the same time they embarrassed and teased her but it was nice. At dinner John had quickly discovered how to make Alex blush and since then had made it his mission to get the woman to blush as much as humanly possible. According to John, Alex looked, "absolutely adorable" when she did.

Alex soon moved her thoughts from John to Randy, the man who had invited her to the mad house. Randy made her smile, he treated her like a goddess but at the same time always seemed to turn into a nervous teenager around her, a feature that Alex found endearing. Touching her fingers to her lips Alex couldn't help but smile yet again. She had never kissed someone like Randy before and deep down there was the undeniable excitement of having kissed WWE Superstar Randy Orton. Kissing Randy was definitely something Alex could get used to.

Alex just about dropped the soap when expletives rang throughout the house. By the time Alex had turned off the tap, wrapped a towel around her waist and ran to search for the noise John had ran on the search as well. They found Randy in the doorway holding his left hand, which was bleeding profusely.

"Dude, get over a sink! You're bleeding on the carpet!" John admonished his friend as he began to worry about the amount of blood coming from his friend's hand. Alex grabbed Randy's hand and took him over to the sink beginning to wash out the cut.

"How the heck did you do this?"



"I was… picking up the pieces of… cup, ow… I put my hand down for balance… and… put piece… ow, ow, ow… through hand," Randy explained gasping in pain. Randy may have cut himself on a regular basis for work but he wasn't a big fan of pain, besides he swore that hand cuts hurt the most.

"Here are the band-aids or do you think he'll need stitches?" John asked grateful that there was a woman around, especially one who apparently knew what to do in these situations.

"I think he'll be right, he's just being a big baby," Alex smiled at Randy and winked at John before pulling Randy's hand out from under the flow of water.

"Do you have any tweezers and antiseptic?" She asked John after looking at Randy's hand and shoving it back under.

John searched the first-aid kit for some tweezers. Sure Alex had said that Randy was just being a big baby but there had been so much blood and generally when there was that much blood at work it meant concussion watch. Of course, John knew that there wouldn't be concussion watch for a hand injury but he was still worried.

Finding the tweezers and antiseptic he sighed, only Randy could cause so much drama. As John turned back to Alex he noticed that she was wearing nothing more than a towel and was still wet. John couldn't help but smile then mentally kicked himself, yes Alex was fun and gorgeous but she was Randy's and there was no denying that Randy was head over heels for her.

John automatically pushed his thoughts to Ashley; once upon a time he would have jumped at the chance of Alex, no matter who she was dating. But, John was growing up and Ashley was this completely wonderful woman that he didn't want to risk losing. Nor did John have any desire to betray his best friend.

"Grab me a dish towel please John," Alex asked as John put the tweezers and antiseptic beside her. He grabbed a towel and handed it to Alex as she pulled Randy's hand out of the water. As she began to pat dry Randy's hand he introduced Alex to a few choice words, that despite growing up around so many boys, she had never heard before.

When Alex was focusing on his hand Randy looked up and made eye contact with John. He smirked and winked at his friend. John realized then that the injury didn't hurt as much as Randy was making out. Randy was faking the extent of pain so that Alex would baby and look after him and so far it was working like a charm.

While Randy was paying attention to John Alex had caught him winking and was well aware of the stunt he was trying to pull. Randy still wasn't paying attention to Alex when she grabbed the tweezers and shoved them in the wound to pull out a piece of ceramic. Randy screamed in shock, not expecting the pain that came with the invasion of the wound causing both Alex and John to burst out laughing.

Randy pouted as he realized that he'd been caught out and just turned his attention to focusing on Alex. For the first time Randy noticed that Alex was dressed only in a towel, which was now 

beginning to fall down. Despite the throbbing in his hand Randy couldn't help but think what the woman looked like under the towel.

"You know Alex," John began as Alex once again tried hiking up her towel, "if that towel's bothering you, you can just get rid of it. We really wouldn't mind."

"CENA!" Randy growled attempting to lunge at his friend. While he agreed with what John had said he didn't want John saying that about the woman he was, well he didn't know what he was in regards to Alex. Were they dating? Were they friends with benefits? Or were they just two completely hopeless people doing what they do best – being completely hopeless? As soon as Randy lunged however, Alex put her hand against his chest firmly pushing him backwards. The swift movement was enough to throw the man off balance and thump back down in the chair he had been sitting on.

Alex quickly finished taking the ceramic out of Randy's hand and once more stuck it under the tap. After drying it again and dousing it with antiseptic Alex kissing it,

"There all better!" Alex stood up and headed back in the direction of the bedroom, "I'm going to get dressed, and Randy you should too. We're now running late thanks to your great drama."

"You two have got five minutes, I'll clean up here." John replied beginning to pick up the mess from Alex's nursing station.

Alex quickly changed and made her way back into Randy's room. She temporarily considered knocking but decided that catching Randy not exactly dressed wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. When Alex found Randy he was standing there with a shirt on and his shorts beginning to fall down. Randy sadly looked up at Alex,

"I can't get the buttons done up."

"Umm… Okay, do you want me to get John?" Alex asked looking around nervously. What was she meant to do to? Of course, Alex knew what she wanted, she wanted to help him do up his buttons, though that could lead to them taking a lot longer than the five minutes that John had given them.

"Um… Yea I guess. Though he is going to give me hell eternally for this," Randy sighed. He wanted to ask Alex to help him but figured it would just make him sound creepy.

"JOHN! Randy needs some help dressing!"


	11. Chapter 11

John walked in and without saying a word began to search through Randy's drawers. Finally he pulled out a pair of board shorts and threw them to Randy.

"I called Dr Andrews' office and he's running late so we shouldn't be too late ourselves," John explained before reaching down to tie the string on Randy's pants.

"Now I have to change my shirt," Randy muttered causing Alex to laugh.

Alex was impressed with how tolerant John was being with Randy. What she didn't know was how Randy had spent many nights looking after John after his surgery. Not only had Randy helped John dress, the first couple of days he had to help the man shower. Randy and John's girlfriend, at the time, had tag teamed caring for the man and sometimes John's girlfriend just couldn't be there for shower time.

"Shoes?" Randy asked,

"Wear your flip flops and hurry up!" John announced kicking a pair of flip flops towards his friend. Alex was amazed at the interaction between the two friends; she had never had a friend who would be there for her like John clearly was for Randy. Randy wrapped his good arm around John as they headed out to the car,

"Thanks," Randy smiled and it seemed that the two men had completely forgotten that Alex was there.

"No problem. But, know this; I am NOT going to help you shower after your surgery. Lex is here for that!"

"Lex?" Alex asked raising an eyebrow,

"Yea, you seem to call him Dall so it seemed fitting," John smirked turning back to face Alex.

"What is up with that Dall thing anyway?" Randy asked stepping back to walk with Alex.

"So are you going to explain the Dall thing or are we just going to continue to ignore it?" John said as they reached the car,

"Ignore it," Alex smiled as John directed Randy to the backseat insisting that she sit up front.

John dropped Randy and Alex off at Dr. Andrews' office. The nurse took them straight back to a room, telling them they would have to wait a little bit.

"So Dall, why exactly am I here?" Alex asked pulling herself up on the table and swinging her legs.

"Because John doesn't trust me and I need some support," Randy smiled reaching out and holding Alex's hand momentarily, "and would you please tell me where the hell Dall came from?"

"I meant here as in here. This state, with you, staying in a house with dumb and dumber"

Before Randy had the chance to answer Dr. Andrews walked in.

"Randy, great to see you again. I see you've bought another friend," Dr. Andrews lent in to whisper to Alex, "And may I just say that you are much better looking than John."

"Thanks, I'm Alex it's nice to meet you. I'm guessing you're Dr. Andrews?" Alex smiled extending her hand,

"That's me. Randy tends to slack on the introductions."

"I didn't get a chance!" Randy attempted to object. Only to be ignored,



"So we have your MRI results back. How about you and your lovely lady friend swap places and we can have a look at your shoulder?"

Randy turned and pouted at Alex,

"Do I have to?"

"Yes!"Alex growled jumping off the table and pushing Randy towards it. Randy pouted some more and pulled himself onto the table.

"Hold my hand?" Randy whined to Alex, causing her to roll her eyes. She liked Randy but couldn't believe how pathetic he was being seeing the doctor.

"What's wrong with your hand?" Dr. Andrews asked looking down at Randy's bandaged and still bleeding hand,

"Nothing," Randy rushed hiding his hand behind his back.

"Alex?" Dr. Andrews asked turning to Alex for answers. The doctor had dealt with Randy before and knew how much of a cry baby he could be.

"Dall threw a cup at John and it broke. When he was cleaning up the pieces he lent back and put it through his hand."

"Dall?" Dr. Andrews raised his eyebrows,

"Don't ask, she won't explain it!" Randy sighed crossing his legs and resting his hands in his legs. Dr. Andrews smirked grabbing Randy's hand before he had a chance to pull away.

"Who bandaged it?"

"I did. I think I got all the ceramic out and doused it in antiseptic," Alex explained as Dr. Andrews began to unwrap the bandaging.

Dr. Andrews investigated Randy's hand for a couple of minutes before picking up a nearby phone and calling for a nurse to bring a suture kit.

"Wait, did you just say suture?" Randy asked yanking his hand back and yelping as the cut rubbed against Dr. Andrews' hand.

"You're bleeding, you've got a deep cut in your hand, you need a couple of stitches," Dr. Andrews said getting annoyed with his patient. The nurse walked in bringing a suture kit,

"Grab him!" The doctor said the second the door was opened knowing that Randy would attempt to run. With Alex sitting on Randy's lap Dr. Andrews was able to put two stitches in Randy's hand and coerce him back onto the bed.

"Okay, now let's look at your shoulder." Dr. Andrews announced pulling the MRI up on his computer screen.

"You've had a couple of separated shoulders but the work we did to repair them has been completely destroyed. If you look here you can clearly see a separation in your rotator cuff, you have completely destroyed your Infraspinatus and Subscapularis muscles." Randy didn't understand what the muscles he had injured were but knew that destroyed muscles of any sort was a bad thing,

"Come on doc, I get beat up for a living you've got to talk in simple terms," Dr. Andrews laughed. He'd been working with wrestlers for as long as he could remember and always got the same response. Holding out his arm he began to explain,

"They are the muscles that let you rotate your arm," Dr. Andrews demonstrated rotating his arm so that his palm was facing up then turning it back.

"Do you really need those muscles?" Randy asked hoping that there would be away out of surgery.

"Yea, they're slightly important," Dr. Andrews rolled his eyes at Alex.

"So, are you able to fix the problem?" Alex asked deciding it was time to but in,

"To a degree, yes, we can replace Randy's destroyed muscles with muscles from a cadaver." The word cadaver caused Randy to jump up, ignoring the pain spiraling through his shoulder,

"You're going to put a dead guys muscle into me?"

"Yea, it's pretty much the only shot you've got."

"But it's a dead guy."

"Would you complain if we were giving you that guys liver or heart or _brain_?" Alex laughed at the emphasis Dr. Andrew's put on the word brain. Perhaps if Randy had a brain transplant he wouldn't be such a baby when it came to doctors.

"I guess not," Randy sulked. Dr. Andrews spent another half an hour explaining what the surgery and recovery would entail.

Not once could Randy make eye contact with Dr. Andrews or Alex. The words began sinking in and he felt sick. It was going to take him nearly a year just to regain average mobility and strength in his arm. He would be lucky if he would ever be as strong as he was again. Then Dr. Andrews started giving statistics,

"Randy, in all honesty one in a 1000 chance of ever getting in the ring again. A one in 10,000 chance of ever being able to wrestle like you do now," Randy's heart sank in his stomach.

Not wrestling had been something he'd been toying with for a while. But he wanted to be able to make the choice of giving up the lifestyle he'd been thrust into. Sure he never had to work again if he didn't want to but what would he do? He knew he definitely couldn't live the same way he had been. No more massive shopping sprees, or expensive weekend getaways, no more feel good gifts or cars. Randy wanted to be able to live the lifestyle he'd grown accustomed too.

--

While Randy and Alex were getting the grim prognosis John had headed for his physical therapy appointment. He couldn't help but smile as he pulled into the parking lot, he was looking forward to seeing Ashley and having her hands on his chest. Sure it was just therapy but Ashley was definitely something special. Every time she checked his injury John's heart started beating a little faster, her hands were so soft and gentle against his skin.

As John pushed open the door he thought back to the night before. His breath had caught in his throat when they made eye contact across the crowed bar. Her smile made him weak at the knees and he stumbled slightly as he stood up to greet her. He couldn't believe that he'd managed to get Ashley to agree to drinks. She apologized for being late and he asked her about her day as he ordered her a drink. Ashley could have been saying anything for all John would know; he had completely melted into her voice. John had never felt that way about anyone before. Then when they said goodbye her soft lips brushed against his cheek and his knees buckled once more.



"Earth to John!" John shook the thoughts of the night before out of his head and made eye-contact with the woman he'd been thinking about.

"Sorry, off with the fairies," John attempted a smile at Ashley.

"No problem, come on there is someone I would like you to talk with" Ashley smiled heading to the tables at the back off the room. She indicated for John to take a seat before calling someone over,  
"John do you remember Kyle?"

"Howdy," John smiled at the young man and shook the extended hand.

"Kyle will be your new therapist," Ashley's words dropped John from the cloud he was on.

"Why?"

"Kyle, can you give us a minute?" Ashley asked smiling as Kyle walked away to check John's chart.

"Why aren't you going to be my therapist anymore?" John asked concerned that he had messed something up the night before, "it was last night wasn't it?"

"Yes actually."

"Oh man, I stuffed up didn't I? What did I do? Did I have bad body odor? Did I swear too much? What was it?" John asked as his shoulders sagged.

"You were amazing and I had a fantastic time"

"Then what's the problem?" John was more than confused at this stage, especially after his girly outburst.

"I can't date my patients," Ashley blushed.

"What?"

"I can't date my patients, it's the biggest ethical no-no there is and I would rather change your therapist then have to turn down tomorrow night's date."

"Oh, okay. Well then get Kyle back over here and let's get to it. I have to go pick up Randy and Alex soon."

"Alex?" Ashley asked as she headed to find Kyle.

"Randy's new girl, she's staying with us for awhile." John smiled.

Despite Kyle being John's therapist Ashley was nearby the entire time and more than once Kyle reprimanded John for staring.

"What can I say? She's beautiful," John smirked looking over at Ashley once more. She was doing some paper work with a new patient. Writing on her tablet laptop Ashley would absent-mindedly reach up and brush her dirty blonde hair out of her deep blue eyes only to have the exact same piece fall right back again.

"Yes, I know but, would you just focus!" Kyle sighed frustrated; he'd worked with John before and knew he could be like a kid with ADHD. When John had his surgery Kyle had been on vacation so Ashley had taken his patients and kept John. Kyle had been back a month and had no idea why Ashley suddenly wanted him to take on John.

Kyle watched the two momentarily; John couldn't keep his eyes off Ashley and Ashley would constantly turn and smile at John. Kyle wasn't a moron, it didn't take him long to realize that there was a mutual interest.

"You like her don't you?" Kyle asked John who was distracted yet again.



"What are you 12? Do you like her?" John repeated in a sing song voice barely tearing his eyes away from the woman, "yes I am interested in Ashley."

"She can't date patients," Kyle announced somewhat self-righteously,

"Can't date co-workers either," John didn't mind Kyle as a physical therapist but there was no secret that he had interest in Ashley as well and John couldn't help but feel threatened, "good thing I'm no longer her patient," John smirked after a moment of silence.

Kyle realized that it would be a wise idea to keep his mouth shut on the Ashley topic. Once John was finished therapy and was getting changed Ashley came to say goodbye. John's heart skipped a million beats when the woman flashed her pearly white smile that caused her eyes to sparkle. John even felt him blush as Ashley's hand brushed against his placing a piece of paper in his hand. It was her phone number, something that he hadn't yet gained as they'd made their previous meeting arrangements at therapy.

John was on cloud 9 as he drove to Dr. Andrews' temporary office. Dr. Andrews was in town a few weeks on conference and John was grateful that he'd been willing to see Randy during his stay as there was no way that Randy would have gone to see him otherwise. Alex and Randy were sitting on the curb outside of Dr. Andrews' office. Neither speaking and Randy had a face like thunder,

"So how did it go?" John asked casually.

"I don't want to talk about it," Randy muttered sulking in the backseat.

"Not good I take it then?" John asked directing his question at Alex, hoping that she might give some insight.

"Not particularly," she replied getting in the car next to Randy. The ride back to John's was silent and the heavy mood contagious. John soon found himself coming down off cloud 9 and being just as solemn as the other two.

When they arrived John let Randy walk ahead before pulling Alex aside,

"What's the verdict?" John asked knowing that he wouldn't get anything out of Randy.

"He's destroyed two muscles in his rotator cuff; they're going to repair it with cadaver muscles."

"Wrestling chances?" John was nearly afraid of the answer,

"1 in 10,000" Alex muttered before going to find Randy.


	12. Chapter 12

By the time Alex and John made it inside Randy was already out of sight. After checking his bedroom John concluded that Randy was in the games room and ran up to check. Sure enough John found Randy playing Judge Dredd and looking as if he was on a real shooting spree. He was holding the neon blue plastic gun as if it was real and the determined look in Randy's eyes gave off the air of a mass murderer. Shuddering John had no doubt in his mind that, to Randy, the target was Dr. Andrews.

Not a word passed between the two friends and John wondered if Randy even realized he was in the room. Randy was so focused on his game that John didn't dare speak, if Randy focused on the game he didn't have to focus on his injury. Eventually Alex joined the two men and handed John a plate, she'd made lunch, a chicken salad.

"Dall," Alex said gently, causing Randy to spin around aiming the gun at his friends. John and Alex jumped slightly, momentarily forgetting that it was just plastic.

"I told you I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT!" Randy hissed.

"Neither do I, I just bought you some lunch," Alex rushed out holding out a plate.

"I'm not hungry," Randy muttered turning back to his game.

"Come on Orton you've got to eat." John reprimanded his friend, who in response turned around grabbed a fork and put a small amount of salad on it before shoving it in his mouth,

"There! I ate, are you happy now?" The man hissed dropping the fork on the plate.

"Dall…" Alex started only to be stopped by John.

"Leave him, I don't want to but, he knows that, if I have to, I will force feed him again," John sighed sitting down and beginning to eat.

"Again?" Alex asked playing with the food on her plate.

"Yea," John explained glancing at his friend to see if he would bite. Randy's face was getting red and his hands were going white as he gripped the plastic gun tighter.

"Pray tell?"

"Dall got suspended a year or so ago. It was his third time for the same offense; he should have lost his job."

"Cena!" Randy growled,

"What's that got to do with force feeding him?" Alex asked.

"Cena, tell her and you're dead!" Randy growled finally making eye contact with his friend. The last thing Randy wanted was for Alex to know about that part of his past and get scared. If she knew what he'd been through, there was no way she would stick around and Randy didn't know what he'd do if she left.

"Hey, if you won't entertain her I will. Anyway, Randy was given an option; lose his job or rehab. Of course, a couple of days later, he showed up on my door step completely strung out."

"CENA!" Randy hissed spinning around and aiming his plastic gun at John. John simply raised an eyebrow and turned back to Alex,

"Anyway, the dumbass wouldn't go to rehab but knew he had to get off the drugs. So he came to Cena's rehab clinic," John smirked at Randy who scowling swung the gun at his friend's head.

Ducking John swore slightly as the plastic weapon came so close that it rustled his hair. John hated it when his friend was in one of his moods. Randy got like this whenever he needed 

surgery. It was like he was in withdrawal again. Randy hated being angry as well, he hated the way he felt but he figured it was his life he could be angry if he wanted to.

Picking up the plastic gun by its cord Randy returned to his game. He knew that once Alex processed what John had told her, followed by his anger she would ditch him as fast as humanly possible. There is no way that Alex would stay with an ex-druggie and someone with anger issues. Randy waited anxiously for Alex's disgusted departure then he heard her softer laughter echo throughout the room,

"You know you would be a lot more endearing if you weren't such a big baby. He barely touched you… Anyway you deserved it!" Alex laughed at John, who was sulking about Randy lashing out.

Alex had been slightly taken back by Randy's outburst but the drug history didn't faze her. She'd seen plenty of that and knew people could change their lives. There was nothing to show that he was using, he even had issues with taking over the counter pain meds. The anger outburst was expected as well, Randy had warned his friend and it's not like the weapon actually hit John, it just skimmed the top of his head.

Alex looked around the room ignoring the slightly amused look on Randy's face and John's pouting. Spying a machine in the corner Alex smirked,

"John?"

"Hmm?" The man acknowledged still rubbing his head.

"Why exactly do you have DDR?"

"It's a fun game and I happen to kick ass at it," John shrugged. Alex looked the man up and down with a raised eyebrow before bursting out laughing,

"Hey, I happen to be a good dancer!" John pouted.

"I've seen you attempt to dance on TV and I'll just leave it at that," Alex laughed and looking over at Randy, saw a slight smirk on his face,

"Alright, it keeps me fit and flexible," John shrugged causing Randy to let out a snort of laughter. While Randy was still focused on his game he was clearly listening to the banter and beginning to relax a little. Alex quickly realized ignoring him and bantering with John was a good plan.

"Yea right! I've seen you wrestle, you are neither fit nor flexible," Alex taunted; she had the game herself and knew she could easily kick John's backside.

"Oh really? I bet you couldn't dance your way out of a paper bag," John smirked.

Taken back Alex demonstrated some dance moves she learnt after years of dance class.

"Alright then," John announced doing an over exaggerated dance move, "I challenge you to a dance off!"

"Johnny, that move right there proves that you cannot dance!" Alex said laughing.

"Johnny? No one calls me Johnny!"

"I do," Alex smiled.

"Hey, if she can call me Dall she can call you Johnny," Randy pouted still focusing on his game.

"Do you accept the challenge Lex?" John asked still pouting.



"Hell yea!" Alex smirked rolling her eyes at the pouting. She sat down on the couch and watched as John pulled the DDR machines away from the wall and set them up. Randy also watched and began to think.

He wanted nothing more than to get completely piss drunk and forget his worries. Whenever the boys would play DDR at John's house they would have a few drinks, after all there was no better way to play than drunk. John kept a fully stocked beer fridge in the games room for such an occasion so while Alex and John were talking smack to each other Randy went over and grabbed three bottles.

"Wait, before you guys start you're missing the most important ingredient… BEER!" Randy smiled handing John and Alex a bottle each.

Randy decided he was over his massacre; after all there is no fun in shooting people if they just keep coming back to life. A couple of hours and a lot of beer later Randy was getting dizzy watching his best friend and the girl, he hoped would be his girlfriend, dance to dead heat after dead heat.

"Why do you call me Dall?" He asked lying down. With her face turned no one could see Alex blush but the alcohol was making her relax.

"You're my nephew's favorite wrestler and he can't pronounce Randall so he calls you Dall. It just kind of stuck," Alex finally admitted, stepping off the machine for a drink break.

"And let me guess he calls me Johnny?" John asked after several hours of his new nickname.

"No, for some crazy reason my one of my other nephews is obsessed with you and he calls you Johnny," Alex sighed before gulping down half a bottle of water. There was silence while John and Alex got their breath back before Randy finally asked,

"Wait, why does he call me Randall not Randy?"

"Umm… Ah… So Johnny care for another game?" Alex asked quickly changing the subject.

The truth was at Alex's house Randy was already like family. They spoke about him like he was in the room. Of course, Alex didn't dare mention that the mystery man in her life was none other than the man her entire family seemed obsessed with. She had no idea why her family was so obsessed with Randy and even John. All she knew was that her seven year old nephew, Jameson, was in love with Randy and what had started as pleasing him had turned into a household obsession.

The same thing was happening with her 6 year old nephew, Dylan, he was obsessed with John, Alex had no idea what the boy saw in John. If Jameson and Dylan knew that she was staying with Randy and John they would go out of their minds, and absolutely insist that she let them come and visit. Of course if any of her family found it out they would all invade.

Alex sighed in relief as John and Randy dropped the subject. John and Alex decided on a first to five DDR final. It took them close to three hours to finally declare Alex the winner. Despite it being a 5-4 win Alex wasted no time rubbing her victory in John's face. As punishment for losing John had to clean up the games room, which was now a mess of beer bottles and pizza boxes.



During the evening they'd stopped their game briefly and ate in silence after Randy had ordered pizza having gotten bored of watching the two compete. Unknown to his competing friends Randy had barely eaten half a piece before continue his pursuit of unconsciousness.

Flopping down on a spare couch Alex looked around, the clock on the wall told her it was just after 10pm. They'd been 'dancing' for 7 hours and Alex was exhausted.

"Hey, when did Dall fall asleep?" Alex asked looking over at the sleeping form on the other couch.

"I don't know… Want a drink?" John asked heading for the bar.

"Water please," Alex responded rubbing her legs, which were feeling like jelly. Alex was surprised at how well John could move after such an aggressive work out.

John opened the usually fully stocked fridge and stopped dead in his tracks. Sans for two remaining water bottles, the fridge was completely empty. The man was confused; he'd restocked it that morning from his supplies in the garage. He'd even made a mental note that his supplies were beginning to run low.

"Hey Lex, how much did you have to drink?"

"I don't know, four bottles? Why?" Alex shrugged,

"I had about the same but the fridge is empty. I only restocked it this morning." John and Alex turned to Randy and could easily tell where the supply had gone.

"Oh man, he got into the tequila too? I was saving that!" John sighed upon spotting a near empty tequila bottle, "why don't you go down and watch a movie, feel free to take any of my DVDs. I'll make sure he doesn't choke to death on his own vomit."

"Maybe I should stay," Alex suggested.

"You've never seen Randy drunk have you? Trust me when he wakes up you don't want to be anywhere near him," John replied turning Alex in the direction of the door, "goodnight."

"Night," Alex sighed heading down to her room.

Alex had been around drunken people plenty of times, she'd even been one on numerous occasions. But, if John was trying to stop her from being around when Randy woke up he must definitely not fall into the fun drunk category.

John looked around the room and decided to clean up, he placed an empty trash can next to Randy and began to pick up the bottles scattered around the room. After a few minutes John heard the unmistakable noises of Randy stirring,

"If you can't make it to the bathroom use the trash can… Just don't puke on the carpet!" John warned his friend. As soon as the words came out of John's mouth Randy was on his feet and rushing to the bathroom at the end of the room.

John threw the last empty bottle in the bin and followed his friend. He leant against the wall as Randy emptied the contents of his stomach into the toilet.

"I don't want to hear it," Randy muttered wiping his mouth and flopping on the floor, "you did the same thing when you found out about your injury," Randy attempted to defend himself when John didn't say anything. He was quickly becoming angry, without uttering a word John could say more than Randy's father could by yelling at him.



"No, I went out and had a couple of drinks with a couple of friends and came home completely sober. I did not get so drunk I passed out on the couch while my best friend entertained my girlfriend," John finally explained as Randy threw up once again.

"She's not my girlfriend," Randy muttered wiping his mouth,

"Whatever. What is up with you lately?" Randy looked at John as if he was an idiot, "Yea, you got a horrible prognosis but you know better than to drown your sorrows in a bottle."

Randy didn't usually play the role of the angry drunk but with everything that had been going on and John acting as if he was his father or something Randy was at the end of his tether,

"You're not my father so stop bloody acting like it. What I do is none of your business,"

"You're in my house it's my business, better yet, you're my best friend it's my business!"

"Well I guess it's time to change that," Randy replied pulling himself to his feet and king hitting John sending him to the floor.


	13. Chapter 13

Grabbing an open beer on the way out Randy headed down the stairs and out to the front yard. Standing in the middle of the front yard Randy purged his stomach once more before letting out a near primal scream and throwing the bottle across the yard. Absentmindedly Randy wiped away the alcohol that had spilled on his pants and headed to where the bottle now lay, unbroken. Hoping to find some liquid left, he picked up the bottle and without turning around began to speak,

"Why aren't you there for me?"

"Randy if I wasn't there for you, you'd be talking to the police! You just broke my fricken nose! I've always been there for you, through suspension after suspension, through the drugs and through the injuries. I'm here for you now and I'm calling you on your crap because I don't want to see you lose the best damn thing that has ever happened to you!" Randy spun around and threw the bottle at his best friend's head. John quickly ducked but the bottom of the bottle smacked right below his left eye before rebounding and smashing against a wall.

"This injury isn't the best damn thing that has ever happened to me,"

"No, but the woman inside that house is," John grimaced, blood was quickly filling his sinuses and the pain from the bottle was agonizing. He knew that Randy had broken more bones,

"I have never seen you more head over heels for anyone than you are with Lex. And who would blame you? She's beautiful, smart, and funny; she's not afraid to put either of us in our place and is completely and utterly head over heels for you." John sighed attempting to put pressure on his bleeding nose.

Randy looked his friend up and down and rolled his eyes. John was being mushy and pathetic but seeping into Randy's drunken mind was the fact that, despite having just messed up his face, John was still there for him. But Randy didn't want John to be there. He wanted John to get angry, to yell and scream, to hit him, kick him out, or even call the cops. Randy wanted John to simply react so he would have an excuse to be angry himself. The man just wanted to be angry, to hate the world and everything in it, but with John being so calm Randy couldn't get riled up.

"Sit!" John ordered gently grabbing his friend and pushing him down on the front steps, "stay!"

"Where are you going?" Randy asked as his friend turned towards the house.

"To get Lex," John replied. Randy grabbed his arm,

"No, don't. I can't see her like this… I can't talk to her like this, she'll leave. John, please don't make me talk to her!"

"I'm not going to make you talk to her. But I need someone to drive me to Casualty to see if they can fix the mess you've made of my face," John replied heading inside. His face was throbbing and he could barely breathe due to the blood congealing in his nostrils.

John quickly made up a story about his face before knocking on Alex's bedroom door.

"Come in," Alex called causing John to smile slightly. She may have been Randy's girl but she was gorgeous and had the sweetest sounding voice.

"Oh my gosh! What happened to your face?" Alex asked jumping up as soon as John opened the door, "Did Dall do this to you?"

"No, I just tripped down the stairs and smashed my face on the banister. I'm pretty sure I've broken something, can you please take me to casualty?" John asked swatting the woman's hand away. He didn't want someone unnecessarily touching his face, for a matter of fact he didn't want anyone touching his face at all.



"Absolutely just let me get changed," for the first time John realized that the woman was wearing the pajamas that he'd been in awe of that morning. John could hardly believe that it was only that morning that he'd been introduced to 'before-coffee-Alex', so much had happened in less than 24 hours. Alex quickly threw a pair of shorts and a shirt on over her pajamas and was ready to take John to get help.

"Where's Dall?" Alex finally asked as the two headed for the door.

"Waiting outside, just so you know it's kind of pathetic," John replied tossing the girl his keys. By the time the duo got outside Randy was sobbing profusely. This was the kind of drunken Randy that John knew.

"Come on, let's go!" John said to his friend. Randy grabbed him and crying he said,

"I can't lose her! I just can't let her out of my grasp! Not Alex, not this one!"

"It's alright. Get up, you've got to come with us," John replied pulling his friend up.

"Where are you taking me? Are you taking me to the police? Don't tell them that I hit you please, please! Vince will fire me for sure then I really will lose her!" John sighed,

"No, we're going to the hospital to get my face fixed."

"Don't tell Alex I did it, please don't tell her!" Randy pleaded with his friend, completely oblivious to Alex's presence.

Alex watched the interaction between the two friends. John had been right Randy was pathetic but, Alex was intrigued to see him being so open. He kept saying that he couldn't lose her and had even mentioned Alex's name. Alex wondered if it meant that he actually liked her and perhaps he wanted something more than whatever it was that they currently had. Randy had admitted to messing up John's face and Alex wondered what John had done to cause Randy's outburst, not once considering the possibility that Randy had snapped without provocation. The woman had seen the way John taunted his best friend and it didn't take an idiot to realize it wouldn't be long before Randy snapped.

By the time they'd reached the hospital Randy had calmed down and was sitting quietly in the backseat more than slightly embarrassed by his behavior. Once the car was parked John got out and ducked around to Randy's side, opening the door he lent close to his friend,

"If you're so afraid of losing her make her yours before someone else does." Randy sighed letting his friends words sink in, John was right but after his actions that night there was no way that Alex was going to want him.

It was an unusually quiet night in Casualty so they only had to wait an hour before a doctor could see John. Luckily for Randy, John had claimed that after playing DDR for 7 hours his legs were jelly and he'd tripped down the stairs smashing his face on the banister. Alex had learnt the truth on the way to the hospital and was somewhat concerned about Randy's outburst however; John had ensured that the man's behavior was rare and never directed towards a female. Usually Randy would take his anger out on the ring, with no ring handy John fell victim.

A couple of x-rays revealed that Randy had in fact broken John's nose and left cheek bone. The doctor insisted that John stay overnight for observation. Randy and Alex soon headed back to John's and went to bed. Alex deciding to air on the side of caution decided to sleep in the guest room, leaving Randy to have his space.

The next morning after Alex had downed two cups of coffee she poured a cup for Randy. She was nervous, if he'd messed up John, what could he do to her? What would he do to her? Was she at risk around him? It was no secret he had an anger problem, it had been blasted all over the internet. But Alex had thought that Randy only lashed out in immature ways, never violence. The previous night had changed that perception and Alex was concerned, she found herself wondering what she had gotten herself into. Had she fallen for a violent man? Alex had to find out before she fell too deep she couldn't pull herself out.

Alex made a mental note to pull John aside and speak to him privately. Out of anyone he would know Randy the best. John had called that morning, it was what had woke her up, he had said they were letting him go home that afternoon and asked if she could pick him up alone, he didn't want Randy to join her. It would give John a chance to prepare himself to face the man that had put him in hospital and it would give Alex the chance to find out more about the guy she was starting to get involved with.

Temporarily brushing her new fear aside Alex donned a smile and swung open the door leading to Randy's bedroom,

"GOOD MORNING SUNSHINE!" Alex called to the hung over Randy. The man groaned and buried himself under the blankets trying to escape the noise and the light as Alex pulled open his drapes.

"Time to get up! I bought you coffee" Alex smirked, there was no dire need for Randy to get out of bed but she figured after his behavior the night before he could suffer a little bit.

"Alright, alright as long as you close the drapes," Randy muttered still not lifting his head.

"Deal," Alex smiled closing the drapes again. Then without a word she left the room returning moments later with a class of water and two aspirin.

"Take these, they're only aspirin, completely harmless," Alex instructed to a still hidden Randy. He peeked out of the blankets and, seeing that the drapes were closed, he began to sit up. Taking the aspirin and water Randy downed them quickly before looking for where Alex had put his coffee. Alex watched as Randy drank his coffee in silence, she contemplated whether or not the man was going to be sick, completely unaware of how he had purged his stomach the night before.

"I'm not going to hurl," Randy muttered acknowledging Alex's look of concern, "I really screwed up last night didn't I?"

"Yea,"

"John's going to kill me isn't he?"

"I wouldn't blame him if he did," Alex muttered unable to make eye contact with Randy.

Randy watched the woman that he was quickly falling in love with. She was nervous, she couldn't look at him and seemed closed. Randy quickly realized that Alex was scared; while she hadn't seen his outburst he'd made a fool of himself and without meaning to had told her he was responsible.

"Lex, I'm sorry. Last night, that wasn't me. I'm trying this new thing – get everyone I care about to turn their backs on me. The last couple of years I've been crying that everyone has been 

abandoning me. The world hated me, everyone was against me. I realized last night that I was the one who was sabotaging my own life.

"I looked at my best friend's face and it was covered in blood, blood that I'd drawn. Instead of him calling the police, instead of hitting me back he stayed. No matter how much I try to sabotage that relationship he's there. But something told me that I have a hell of a lot of groveling to do or I'll lose John. Without John I don't know what I'd do. Lex, last night wasn't me! I swear I would never intentionally hurt another human being. Whoever that was last night wasn't me," Randy explained speaking from his heart.

The man knew he was in hot water with both John and Alex. He wished he had the courage to tell Alex how he felt about her but didn't want to make things worse. She was scared, she was uncertain and Randy knew that if he started to talk about his feelings she would run. Randy had shown a side of himself that he didn't even recognize and he didn't blame Alex's fear, he felt it too.

Several moments of silence passed and Alex still couldn't force herself to look at Randy. She couldn't dare look in his eyes because she was so afraid that she would see the man from last night, or the lost soul she saw the first night she met him. Finally Alex turned and headed for the door,

"Lex, please don't leave. Give me a chance to prove myself," Randy begged jumping up ready to chase her again. It didn't matter how much his head throbbed he couldn't let her leave.

"I'm not leaving. I'm going to get John," Alex muttered.

"Wait, I'll come with you." Alex stopped and turned to face the man; slowly she looked up and made eye contact. She was too far away to make clarity in his eyes and knew she was at a safe distance.

"John asked that you didn't come," she replied before turning and leaving.

Randy flopped back on the bed, swearing. The chances were that he had just lost the only two people he had left in his life. Randy didn't know what to do, John was going to kill him and Alex hated him, she couldn't even look at him. Finally he got up and headed for the shower. The hot water soon mixed with the tears that were streaking down the man's face until he couldn't figure out where the tears stopped and the shower started.

Alex gasped in shock when she saw John's face, it looked worse than the night before but the man just gave a weak smile and followed her to the car. Aside from greeting John and asking about the pain Alex hadn't said a word and John could see the look of apprehension on her face. The woman wanted to ask him about Randy, if that behavior was normal for him, she wanted to know what she was getting herself into. But looking at John's face she was afraid to hear the answer.

Stopped at a traffic light Alex felt a hand on her leg,

"He's a good guy, he's just really messed up at the moment," John explained slowly finding it painful to talk.

"What are you going to do about your face? He's worried you're going to kill him,"



"Nah, I won't kill him. But, I think it's time to reevaluate our friendship slightly. He needs me but I'm not going to let him do that again,"

"You're going to stick around despite what he did?" Alex asked in shock.

"Yea, and so should you. He thinks that the only two people he has left in the world are in this car. He's petrified that we're going to leave. But he needs us. Don't leave, not for this. This isn't Randy," John said indicating to his face, "this is a guy I've never met before and I know I'll never meet again."

"Why should I stay?" Alex asked timidly.

"Because you are as completely head over heels for him as he is for you," Alex looked at John in shock, how did he know? "If you weren't you wouldn't have run at the hotel and you wouldn't have given him a second chance. And if you had then the second you heard about his drug history you would have run. And, just to press the matter home, you didn't run last night. You're scared but you haven't left. Don't leave now," John attempted to smile patting her leg.

The duo spent the rest of the trip in silence, Alex contemplating what John had said. Was she really that transparent? Did John mean what he said when he told her that Randy was head over heels for her?

Finally Randy got out of the shower and numbly got dressed, ignoring the pain in his hand and shoulder. He headed into the kitchen and began to make lunch, something for Alex and John when they got back. Randy decided on Chicken soup, not exactly lunch food but something easy that he could make. The man was putting the food out on the table when Alex and John walked in and he realized that soup was a good idea.

John's face was swollen and his left eye was shut, the bruising was already beginning to take on numerous colors. Randy winced at the sight and felt horrible knowing that he had caused it.

"John I'm so sorry," Randy rushed forward not noticing John's recoiling hand. As soon as Randy was close enough John's fist collided with his face sending him stumbling backwards. Randy knew he deserved it.


	14. Chapter 14

John reached down and helped the man, he'd just punched, to his feet. Not a word was shared between the two friends and Randy ignored the pain in the hand that John was pulling him up with. While John was angry he wasn't stupid. If he'd pulled his friend up with his bad shoulder there would be even more damage done, instead he took the hand Randy had cut yesterday, ensuring to place unnecessary pressure on the wound.

"So, who's hungry? I made lunch," Randy announced brushing himself off and ignoring the pain in his face. If he showed any sign of pain he'd lose face, the previous night John had ignored his injuries for an hour before needing to seek help. If Randy showed pain now it gave John permission to cause more.

"Randy, are you okay? Let me get some ice on that!" Alex rushed out trying to look after the man.

"I'm fine, I don't need ice,"

"You'll end up with a black eye, let me get some ice!"

"No, no leave it I'm fine. A black eye is nothing," Randy ensured the woman brushing her hand away.

"Randy! You're usually such a big baby let me get you some ice,"

"He said leave it! He's fine!" John growled finally butting in.

"Whatever, I don't understand you men!" Alex cried throwing her hands up and walking away. John turned to his friend,

"Well, go get her!" John insisted causing Randy to jump up and dash after Alex. John shook his head gingerly and sat down attempting to eat some soup.

"Lex, don't leave!" Randy begged entering her room,

"I don't understand you boys," Alex shook her head looking at the suitcase in front of her.

"It's quite simple actually. I did some major damage to John last night and he barely showed pain. What he did to me was nothing in comparison so if I show pain it means that he's entitled to cause me more pain. It's a locker room law – if someone hurts you to the degree that you miss at least two weeks work then when you return you have two weeks to king hit them. Rules are that you only have two weeks and you can't hurt them as much as they hurt you."

"Locker room law? Who makes these supposed 'laws'?" Alex asked raising an eyebrow; she wasn't quite sure what to make of the whole locker room law.

"Locker room leaders; guys like Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Undertaker, JBL and at times John"

"John? As in that goof out there?" Alex asked definitely not believing Randy,

"Yea, don't ask I can't figure it out either!" Randy smiled picking up the still empty suitcase at Alex's feet.

"What are you doing?" Alex asked watching as Randy carried the suitcase to the open wardrobe and placed it inside before closing the door,

"Please don't leave," Randy finally said not turning to face the woman,

"Why not?"

"Because I've already lost too much to have you leave now,"

"So, you're going to guilt me into staying?" Alex asked somewhat put out. Randy spun around,

"No, I could never do that. If you really want to leave, leave. But, know I don't want you to go."



"Randy, I can't do this anymore!" Alex sighed standing up and heading for her bag. Randy was confused, she'd called him by his name not the nickname she'd given him.

"Can't do what?"

"This game of cat and mouse between us. I can't keep falling into this world of yours, this world of late night cuddles and good morning kisses. This world, where you and me make so much sense and, at the same time, absolutely none. I can't keep falling into this with you because soon I'm not going to be able to get myself out,"

"Do you want to get out?"

"If there is nothing more than this, then yes," Alex finally admitted silently.

The woman was showing complete vulnerability towards Randy and was afraid that he would use it to his advantage. Before Randy had a chance to respond John stuck his head in the door,

"I'm going out tonight so I'm going to have a nap. I barely got any sleep last night. It's 3pm now; can you do me a favor? Wake me up at 5?"

"Should you be going out after last night?" Alex asked grateful for the distraction,

"Yea, I'm right. Okay, I'm gone. Thanks for lunch Dall," John waved a hand and disappeared up the stairs.

"Lex," Randy started after hearing John's bedroom door close, "if you look screw up, up in the dictionary you're going find a photo of me. I'm the biggest screw up in the world. I only have a job because someone convinced McMahon that I was the next Rock and because my looks put females in the audience. I had the grades to do anything but I get beat up for a living because that's what my dad did and that's what his dad did. I had legacy to carry on and I screwed it up. I'm third generation and I can't do anything right.

"I'm a recovering drug addict, I have anger issues and I should probably re-evaluate just how much alcohol I consume. Either my performance or my injury is going to result in me losing my job. Nothing in my life makes sense, except for one thing. And that is waking up with you in arms. I've barely known you for two weeks but I feel like I've known you all my life. If you leave I don't know what I'm going to do. I can't keep playing this game anymore either. I want you; I need you to stay so that I can keep falling into the only thing that makes perfect sense. I barely know you but I know that I love you so please stay, no more games; just us," Randy's brain barely registered that he had told Alex he loved her, somehow those three words had slipped past the censor but he didn't care.

After what had happened with Sam and the innumerable flings he'd had, Randy no longer knew what love was. Alex didn't either, she'd had so many bad relationships she just didn't know what was what anymore. She'd heard Randy mutter those three immortal words and chose to ignore it. Alex couldn't bear to have Randy tell her he loved her, not when she was still trying to figure out just what it meant. Randy didn't care that Alex hadn't acknowledged his declaration of love, he didn't even know where the word had come from, he didn't know where anything he was saying was coming from.

"Just us?" Alex asked quietly. Randy had been completely vulnerable with her and she didn't know how to respond.



"Just us," Randy whispered now kneeling in front of Alex. He gently lifted her chin so that he could see her eyes, "Your eyes show me your soul and I know it aches. The night we met your eyes told me you're lost and alone, so am I. But something's changed, something's different. Your eyes tell me that you feel the same way about me that I feel about you. So stay, give us a shot,"

"Alright, I'll stay," Alex smiled before wrapping a hand around Randy's neck and pulling him in for a kiss.

"Really?" Randy asked in shock when they pulled apart,

"Yea, besides who else is going to hold your hand when you have to go to the doctor?" Alex smirked, "But, there is one condition,"

"What?" Randy asked nervously,

"Back off the alcohol. You scared the living daylights out of me last night,"

"Deal," Randy smiled. Having Alex was better than any alcohol.

Randy knew that Alex wasn't asking him to stop drinking all together, just to drink responsibly and after his behavior the night before Randy didn't blame her. Alex said she'd been scared but she had no idea how frightened Randy had been. He'd barely recognized himself, the man he'd been the night before was any one but him.

The new couple didn't do much for the next couple of hours, but when 5pm came Randy was reluctant to leave and wake up his friend. Eventually Alex kicked him out of the room sending him upstairs to wake John. On the way he caught a glimpse in the mirror and winced slightly at the dark bruise already forming around his eye. Reaching John's room Randy took a deep breath and dared to venture in. He took a running jump and landed on his friends stomach,

"Its 5pm, time to wake up"

"Go to hell!" John groaned pushing his friend off him.

"You're the one who wanted the wake up call," Randy shrugged disappearing down the hall.

John groaned before blinking a couple of times, his left eye still wasn't opening and he knew that he looked horrible but he didn't want to cancel his date with Ashley. John finally dragged himself out of bed and into the shower; the hot spray stung his injured face. After his shower John looked for something to wear. Usually he never cared on a date because he had a 'special' outfit that he knew the ladies loved, but he didn't just want Ashley to fall into bed with him. He remembered that he'd recently bought a new pair of dark Levi's that he was yet to wear them and decided that his date with Ashley was a good time. He then found a light blue muscle tee, which he covered with a royal blue button up shirt.

Looking in the mirror John decided that even with his face a mess, he looked good. He'd contemplated calling Ashley and asking her to pick him up but figured that would make him sound pathetic. He wasn't on that much medication anyway so he could drive no problems. He hadn't taken any thing stronger than Tylenol since he'd left the hospital.

John looked in the mirror once more and temporarily contemplated some foundation to make his face look a little worse. But, he quickly decided against it knowing that Ashley would instantly pick up on the swelling anyway. Giving himself a final glance John headed downstairs to let his friends know he was leaving.

Reaching the living room John found all the curtains drawn and lights off, Randy and Alex were curled up together watching a movie on the big screen. John smirked they looked so cute together and he could tell that they'd sorted things out; he just hoped that Randy had been open with his feelings. The man noticed that Alex was dozing if not completely asleep so he tapped Randy on the shoulder,

"I'm heading off; I'll be back later tonight,"

"Have fun," Randy muttered barely even looking up from the movie. John headed for the door and glancing back realized that Randy wasn't watching the movie but the girl curled up against him.

It was a short ride to the Italian restaurant Ashley had suggested. Entering the restaurant John looked around and smirked when he realized that Ashley was yet to arrive, especially after she'd teased him mercilessly about his infamous inability to be on time. John checked his watch quickly and noted that he was actually 5 minutes early.

"Hi, I have a reservation under John Anthony," John smiled at the host, "my date hasn't arrived yet but I'd like to be seated"

"Certainly," the host muttered raising an eyebrow when he saw Johns face. The host gave a waitress two menus and indicated for John to follow the young woman.

John was only waiting a moment when he made eye contact with Ashley. He stood up to pull out her chair and the woman gasped as she saw his face,

"What happened?"

"Nothing, I just fell down the stairs," John shrugged hoping that she would believe his lie. Ashley raised an eyebrow,

"Are you sure you want to stick with that lie? Or do you want a moment to come up with a new one?"

"I'll stick with that one," John shrugged,

"Randy?" Ashley asked reaching over as if to check on the extent of the injury,

"Yea,"

"You know you're not cleared to fight," Ashley growled in typical physical therapist fashion,

"Trust me aside from the black eye I gave him when I got home from the hospital I did no fighting. He did it all,"

"Hospital? Did he break bones?" Ashley asked concerned and John nodded gently indicating to his nose and cheek bone.

"That going to set you back any?"

"No, anyway enough about me, how have you been?" John asked finally able to turn the attention from himself.

After dinner the couple went for a walk, Ashley always conscious of John's face. During their walk Ashley joked about how she was surprised that the world hadn't ended since he'd arrived not just on time but early. John sighed and just sucked it up, the teasing was fair.

Eventually the two parted ways, heading for their respective homes, but before they said goodbye Ashley kissed John on the cheek making him promise that he'd call her if he needed help.

When John arrived back at the house, he was shocked to find it completely dark. The only light came from the TV, which was displaying the menu page for 'Spider-Man 3'. Looking around John found Randy and Alex sound asleep on the couch, wrapped in each others arms. He smiled to himself before heading to the closet and grabbing a blanket to cover the cute couple. John felt a pang of jealousy watching the two together. He couldn't help but wish that he was the one on the couch with Ashley wrapped in his arms.

In his room John sat on his bed and stared at his phone, Ashley had said to call him if he needed her and he definitely needed her. But, he was afraid, if he called her now what would happen? Would she come? Would he be able to control himself or would he ruin everything? John just wanted companionship, someone to wrap in his arms and he didn't want just anyone, he wanted Ashley.

His last relationship had ended being nothing more than sex, there was barely any communication and the only reason that his ex had broken up with him was because John didn't like change and didn't have the balls to break up with her. After all, if he ended it there would be no more sex and he, like most males, was quite fond of that particular physical activity.

John wasn't stupid; he knew that the relationship had been over long before one of them got the guts to actually end it. Even when John's ex finally ended it she struggled, they were comfortable together, they'd found a niche in which the two belonged. It was when John was injured and needed her help that they were forced to realize that their relationship was dead. The hours of awkward silence, with neither having a word to say to the other just echoed that there was nothing left except the sex.

There had been a time when the couple would talk all night, the sun would rise and John's alarm would go off, the only thing stopping the conversation was his need to be on a plane. They barely saw each other because of John's job, when they were together they had so much to catch up on. Then somewhere a long the way things changed and they barely said hello before falling into bed and spending the rest of the weekend there.

In the end both of them wanted something more and John hoped that he'd found that with Ashley. Smiling slightly he dialed her number.


	15. Chapter 15

"Hello?" Ashley's soft voice rang in John's ears. Straight away John knew it was her and his palms began to sweat nervously.

"Hey Ashley, its John,"

"John, what's up? Do you need help?"

"No, I had a question,"

"Yea?"

"I was wondering just how long one should wait before calling someone so they don't sound desperate,"

"John you past desperate the 5th time you asked me out," Ashley rolled her eyes smiling slightly. She'd been hoping that John wouldn't be one of those men, who waited weeks before calling,

"That wasn't desperation, it was detirmination and it paid off," John attempted to smirk but ended up gasping in pain.

"You alright?" Ashley asked hearing John's gasp.

"Fine. Hey, what's your favorite movie?" John asked finding the guts to take the next step.

John had called desperate to hear Ashley's voice again. He hoped that her sweet voice would be enough to satisfy his desire for company. Knowing that it probably wouldn't, John also hoped that he would find the guts to invite the woman over to watch a movie.

"Umm… Gone with the Wind, why?"

"Wow! I was sitting here watching Gone with the Wind…" John started repeating the line that he'd practiced. The only way he'd been able to find the nerve to call Ashley was after he'd rehearsed what he wanted to say, until there was no way possible he could mess up.

"You are watching Gone with the Wind?" Ashley asked raising an eyebrow and trying to picture John watching one of the original chick flicks.

"Yep… Anyway, I was sitting here watching Gone with the Wind and thinking, 'here I am watching Ashley's favorite movie and she's not here to enjoy it'. So I figure that it is just unfair that I'm watching it and you're not, that you're missing out on your favorite movie because I'm selfishly sitting here watching it by myself, when there is plenty of room for the two of us…" John couldn't help but laugh slightly, he sounded ridiculous but when he heard Ashley laugh slightly he knew sounding like an idiot was worth it.

"Get to the point," Ashley laughed.

"Want to come over and watch Gone with the Wind with me?" John finally asked,

"Are you really watching Gone with the Wind?" Ashley finally calling John on his lie,

"No, but if you come and watch it with me, I will be," John came clean.

"Would you like me to bring it over?"

"No, its okay, I have it in my collection," John admitted somewhat sheepishly, barely registering that the woman had agreed to come over.

John gave Ashley his address and she promised to be around within an hour. Ending the call the man flopped back on his bed sighing, he was glad that he had the nerve to ask Ashley over, especially after seeing her just a couple of hours earlier. John jumped up suddenly and looked around, his room was a pigsty and there was no way Ashley would stay if she saw it.

He filled his arms with washing and raced down to the laundry, his house keeper would be in for a shock on Monday when she saw the pile of dirty clothes waiting for her. Hurriedly John 

changed the sheets and towels taking the used ones down to the laundry. John took two more loads of clothes downstairs before finding all the dirty dishes and taking them into the kitchen. He loaded the dishwasher and put it on before heading back upstairs. The man then proceeded to empty a can of FeBreze throughout his room and another one up the hallway. He checked his bathroom and ran a cloth around the surfaces, quickly scrubbing the inside of the toilet. Within 25 minutes John's bedroom was nowhere near perfect but it was a lot better than it had been in weeks. It even smelt somewhat decent.

During John's mad cleaning spree Randy had woken up and momentarily wondered why John was running clothes down to the laundry. Randy's interest in John lasted barely a moment when he remembered the woman he had wrapped in his arms. He thought of moving to his bedroom but decided he didn't want to wake up Alex so, if necessary, he'd spend the night on the couch. As he began to doze off again Alex's phone vibrated across the table. Smiling Randy answered the phone,

"Hello?"

"Hi, who is this?" The woman on the other end of the phone asked,

"Randy, who's this?" Randy asked in return,

"Alex's mother,"

"Oh hi,"

"Where is Alex?" The woman asked gruffly, "And why are you answering her phone?"

"She's asleep," responded figuring that it would be answering both questions in one go.

"Where are you guys?"

"West Newbury, Massachusetts, we're staying at my friend John's," Randy replied, smirking to himself and feeling a slight twinge of pain in his eye.

"What did you call yourself? Was it Andy?" The woman asked after a moments thought. Randy knew that the woman was slowly processing the information that she'd been given. Alex had said that her whole family were wrestling fans, especially in regards to him and John, so the woman was probably working out the correlation between the two.

"Randy,"

"So are you Alex's latest fling?"

"She and I are dating if that is what you are asking,"

"Hmm… You know her favorite wrestler is a guy named Randy,"

"Yes, she's mentioned that," Randy smiled enjoying having fun with the woman.

"I want to talk to her,"

"Sorry, she's sleeping. We had a long day,"

"Aha."

"You know her favorite wrestler has a friend named John?" The woman asked once again bringing wrestling into it,

"Yes, I am aware of this,"

"Dall," Alex groaned having heard him talking, "Who are you talking to?"

"Dall?" Alex's mother asked in shock having overheard Alex's comment,

"Your mom," Randy whispered kissing the top of Alex's head,

"You know there is a simple way to deal with this," Alex replied taking the phone out of Randy's hand,



"DALL?" Alex's mother asked again,

"Goodbye mother," Alex said into the mouthpiece before closing the phone, "Problem solved," Alex smiled before lazily kissing Randy and quickly falling back asleep.

Alex's phone began to vibrate once more but, it was out of reach so Randy just let it ring and fell back asleep himself. The uncomfortable couch was nothing when he had Alex in his arms. Even the pain in his shoulder seemed to lessen with Alex nearby and the pain in his hand was nearly completely gone.

Finally John headed downstairs to find the movie. However, finding it in his extensive collection was like finding a needle in a haystack, having spent many hours watching movies since his surgery everything was all over the place. Finally, he found the movie and headed back upstairs, he was hoping that he could convince the woman to watch the movie in his room, after all Alex and Randy were sound asleep downstairs.

John had just reached his bedroom door when his phone vibrated; he'd asked Ashley to prank him when she arrived so that she didn't wake Randy or Alex when she rang the doorbell and he knew he wouldn't hear her knock. John's heart skipped a beat when he saw that the missed call was from Ashley. She was outside, she'd actually come. The man stared at his phone for a second before it vibrated again; he'd completely forgotten that he was meant to let the woman in.

Blushing, John ran down the stairs, nearly tripping and falling on numerous occasions. Finally, he made it to the door but not before crashing into it and causing a loud bang. John checked the couch and his friends were still sleeping, sighing he finally opened the door,

"Ashley, so nice of you to make it," the man smiled attempting to be calm and sophisticated, but looking like a complete dork.

"With the racket you just made I'm starting to think you really did bust up your face falling down the stairs,"

"Yea, sorry I'm a klutz. Let me give you the grand tour," John smiled and led Ashley around the house. Finally they reached the end of the tour, John's bedroom.

"I thought we could watch the movie in here. Since Randy and Alex are asleep in front of the T.V downstairs, besides this is the best T.V in the house," John smiled pressing a button causing a large screen to descend.

Ashley's jaw dropped the screen covered the wall facing the bed, meaning that John could watch T.V and movies from the comfort of his king size bed. Ashley took a quick glance around the room; it was bigger than her entire apartment. The room was cut in two; there was a waist height divider that separated the bed from a sitting area. The bed was a dark Mahogany with a soft cushion covering at the head and foot. The mattress was covered in a navy blue comforter with matching pillows covering the bed. Dark Mahogany was a theme through the room with the bedside tables, entertainment cabinet, bookshelf and coffee table in the sitting area made out of the popular wood. Glancing towards the sitting area Ashley noted two comfortable and slightly worn armchairs and a large coffee table that was covered in papers and John's laptop.

"You know," Ashley smiled having finished looking around the room, "looking at this room someone might think you are over compensating for something,"



"Trust me darl, if anything I'm under compensating," John quipped back opening the entertainment cabinet and setting up the DVD, "best seat is from the bed, but if you don't want to share I can bring over an armchair".

"Have you been cleared to lift heavy things?" Ashley asked showing concern and knowing that she hadn't given him clearance.

"Nope, but the chairs are on wheels," John replied smiling.

"Go ahead then," Ashley responded waving him away.

Ashley secretly wanted John to watch the movie on the bed with her but was still trying to gauge him. Would he try and have sex with her? Not that she would mind all that much but she wanted to see whether or not there could actually be a relationship. _A relationship, a real relationship_, Ashley thought. She wondered what a real relationship would be like; most guys were intimidated by her. Her career and love for sports made most guys jealous, especially if she was working with athletic males all day long. Of course, they never realized that most the time she was working with old men and women who were struggling with arthritis or other every day people that have gotten themselves into some sort of trouble. With the exception of John the only real athletes Ashley ever worked on was the Boston Red Sox and that was because she worked with their team surgeon.

Some guys would try and use her to get to meet some celebrities then when they found out she only ever worked with the Red Sox they dumped her like a sack of potatoes. She had plenty of flings, but they never turned into anything substantial. They never had anything in common, Ashley tended to attract the complete geeks; those with absolutely no interest in sports; or those guys that claim all they want is a girl to watch sports with then can't handle it when the girl actually knows more about the sport than they do. She also attracted the sex fiends, those men that just couldn't keep their hands off her, they were turned on by a girl who liked sport, and Ashley would discover that they had no real interest in it themselves.

The woman had never been attracted to her patients, but she did tend to form bonds with some of the females. She enjoyed working with the Red Sox because she could discuss baseball with them but she very rarely found them attractive. Then one day John walked in, arm heavily bandaged and in a sling, he was on the phone to a guy he referred to as Hennigan, they were discussing the Red Sox game the night before and Ashley couldn't help but smile. She'd glanced over his file and knew who he was, but not being a wrestling fan she was surprised to find him so down to Earth and not too bad on the eyes.

When John finally turned his attention to the woman his jaw dropped and he muttered something about having to go and ended the call,

"Hi, I'm Ashley, Kyle is away at the moment so, I'll be your physical therapist," she had smiled at him and he felt his knees go weak. For the life of him, John couldn't remember who this Kyle person was but he really didn't care. John spent the next three sessions in a stupor, unable to take his eyes of Ashley. Eventually they began to get to know each other and Ashley found herself increasingly attracted to the man. After a while he began to suggest that the two meet up for drinks one night and it took all of her will power to refuse, she knew that if she did she'd just end up sleeping with the man and that would be a complete disobedience of the code of ethics.



When Kyle returned, she worked out a way that she could get to know her patient without breaking the code of ethics. If John was no longer her patient there would be nothing stopping her from dating him. It was stretching ethics a little but, Ashley figured she could defend herself if she had to, anyway it was John that was making the moves on her and they were both adults. All she had to do was wait for John to ask her out again, and she didn't have to wait long.

They say when you find your perfect match you just know, and the thought petrified Ashley. She'd known John in a patient-therapist for several months and during that time she'd gotten to know a little bit about, John the person. Now she was seeing him in a completely different environment and it seemed right. From day one she knew that they belonged together in more than just the clinic.

Despite the fact that her favorite movie was playing on the screen Ashley couldn't take help but glance over at the man whose room she was in. His face was a mess but if it hurt he wasn't letting on, instead he was staring intently at the screen. Ashley didn't know it but he'd watched the movie several times while recovering from his injury and it was quickly becoming one of his favorites. He even found tears in his eyes at several points of the movie. John loved action and comedy flicks but had a secret soft spot for chick flicks; they helped him understand women better.

"You okay?" John asked glancing over and noticing Ashley staring.

"Yea, just thinking,"

"Dangerous past time," John smiled slightly, "care to share?"

"Not really," Ashley replied chickening out, she couldn't believe he'd caught her staring, she was usually very guarded with the men she liked but he was beginning to break her walls down.

John turned back to the screen and couldn't help but smile to himself. He'd been well aware of her staring and thought it was cute. She'd kept up a hard exterior and John had made it his mission to break through. Glancing over once more, John saw that the woman was still staring at him, a thoughtful yet mischievous look on her face.

Ashley wanted a real relationship for once in her life but, she felt if she didn't kiss him she would explode. Besides, one kiss wasn't going to completely destroy any chance of them having a relationship would it? Finding the nerve she stood up and sashayed over to John. Reaching the man, Ashley sat on his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck she lent in and kissed him passionately.


	16. Chapter 16

Randy stirred as an elephant came crashing down the stairs. He sighed wondering if John would ever be able to answer the door without sounding like a herd of elephants or smashing into the door itself. Randy jumped slightly as, sure enough, John ran straight into the door. Knowing that John would check back to see if he or Alex had woken, Randy waited before glancing up to see who had arrived. The man smiled as he saw the woman, he'd met only once or twice, walk through the door. Randy had an inkling that his best friend had feelings for his physical therapist, Randy didn't think John would actually act on them. But, seeing the woman walking towards the stairs laughing slightly, Randy realized that his friend had found some nerve.

"Alex?" Randy muttered nudging the woman sleeping against him. Despite having the woman of his dreams asleep in his arms, Randy's body was getting stiff and beginning to ache, the couch was no place for a man of his stature, "Alex, wake up," Randy prodded again when the woman didn't stir,

"What?" She finally groaned,

"Let's go to bed,"

"Sleeping," Alex moaned. Randy sighed and slid out from underneath his girlfriend. The man contemplated simply carrying the woman but that would just do even more damage to his shoulder.

"COLD!" Alex groaned blindly reaching for the man she'd been sleeping on.

"Well then, get up and go to bed,"

"Meanie!" Alex hissed but still rolled off the couch and slowly pulled herself to her feet. Standing up, the woman automatically rested her head against Randy's chest,

"I thought I was a meanie?" Randy smirked wrapping his arms around the woman,

"You're warm!" The woman replied looking up.

Randy awkwardly led Alex to the bedroom and let her lay down on his chest. The slowed breathing told Randy that Alex had fallen back asleep. He adjusted his position slightly and sighed, he was wide awake. John had a woman upstairs and was probably going to get laid while Randy had the woman of his dreams sound asleep in his arms. But, something was bothering him and he couldn't figure it out. Sure, there were the issues with his dad and work and of course his shoulder, but there was something else keeping Randy awake that night. While in the morning he'd blame John, Randy knew that the dull noises coming from upstairs had nothing to do with him being awake.

After lying awake for an hour Randy peeled Alex off him.

"Cold! Where you going?" Alex groaned grabbing the pillow to hug it.

"Bathroom," the man muttered in response and headed for the bathroom. He turned on the light and closed the door but, had no intentions of relieving himself. Knowing that Alex would already be asleep, Randy went into the guest room that was connected to the bathroom, the one that Alex was going to sleep in.

It took him a couple of minutes, but he eventually found what he was looking for. The shoebox he held in his hands was hopefully going to provide answers for why the man was wide awake at 1am. Holding the box in his hands as though it was a mysterious treasure Randy sat on the bed, apprehensive to open it.



He knew that the box held his past, and he wondered if he really wanted to go there. Randy starred at the box for half an hour, his eyes focusing on the twine that was tightly holding it closed. He felt as though the twine was wrapped around his heart and that maybe if he finally dealt with the past he could face his future, as uncertain as it may be. But, he was scared; he'd been putting it off for so long that he'd nearly forgotten what it contained.

Finally Randy began to undo the twine. As each layer came off his heart began to beat faster, what was he going to find when he finally removed the lid of the box? Once the twine was gone, Randy found himself staring once more. All he had to do was remove the lid but, he was struggling to find the courage.

Randy thought that maybe he could just gently pull up a corner and take a peek and that would solve everything. He figured he could then tie the box up and put it away and that would be the end of it. But, when he took a peek he couldn't help but laugh and pull the lid off. It was safe, this was a different box. Randy looked down at a picture of him, Paul, Dave and John, back when they were inseparable. Before Paul became a daddy and Dave became arrogant. The men were sitting around a booth, struggling to all fit in, and were all toasting. Glancing at the back Randy's heart dropped once again, the roughly scratched caption claimed that the picture was taken on Randy's last night as a free man, his bachelor party.

Out of the corner of his eye Randy saw another picture, one of Sam and him kissing. The man refused to look at it and simply put it to one side. Underneath the picture was a small box and Randy quickly realized that he had found the box he was originally looking for. Taking a breath Randy opened the box and found himself face to face with the Tiffany engagement ring he'd given to Sam. The main feature was a 2.0 carat diamond, with five 1.0 carat diamonds running along each side of the white gold band. She'd sent it back to him, 2 weeks after leaving and the day it came broke his heart. He'd hung on to it, not quite sure what to do. The ring had cost him a small fortune and he couldn't return it. Randy figured that one day he'd sell it or something.

At the top of the box was now the thing he'd came hunting for in the first place. The thing he didn't want to remember but, felt he was being drawn to. He picked it up and stared at it, blinking back the tears. He turned it over and read the back, "our son," was the only thing written. Looking at the front of the ultrasound picture again Randy could just make out the shadow of the unborn child, Robert Keith Orton, that's what they'd decided to name him, after Randy's hero, his father.

Sam and Randy had been engaged for 6 months when they'd received the news that Sam was pregnant. Randy had fainted when Sam had told him the news; he was going to be a father? When he came to and asked how it had happened Sam wasted no time in reminding him of their activities andhe quickly fell in love with the baby growing in his fiancé's belly.

Randy pulled out the last thing and let the box fall to the floor. He now held a little bodysuit, designed for a newborn. It was blue and had in bold writing, "Just like Grandpa" across the front. Randy's dad had gotten it for them when they asked if they could name the child after him.



Randy was in Dubai when Sam began to miscarry, just two weeks after the ultrasound was taken. By the time he made it home, two days later, there was nothing he could do except look after Sam. Their relationship was never the same after that; Sam couldn't forgive Randy for not being there. That's when the problems with Randy's father really started, he couldn't forgive Randy either. They weren't the only ones, Randy felt guilty, and he blamed himself for not being there. He figured that if he'd been there to look after Sam then she wouldn't have lost the baby.

When he went back on the road he found himself drinking every night, even hours after his friends had retired to their hotel rooms Randy was still drinking. He was happiest when he was in a drunk stupor, he dealt with hangovers by downing a couple of beers for breakfast. He trained longer and wrestled harder. He smiled for the cameras, the fans and his friends and drank to forget the little boy he'd never get to hold.

A year later Sam and Randy began to regain their footing. The miscarriage had damaged Sam's ovaries, they weren't going to be able to have children but, they loved each other. They still planned to get married, nearly two years after they lost the baby. Then Sam snapped, somewhere along the line she decided that since she couldn't give him a child Randy was going to go looking elsewhere and since he was always on the road he must have already started. That was the end of it, they'd lost the baby and then he lost Sam.

When Sam left, he couldn't turn to alcohol anymore, it wasn't strong enough to numb the pain. So he turned to Jeff, the youngest Hardy and begged him for something, anything that would take away the pain. Randy offered the man as much money as he wanted and at the mentioned of money Jeff was more than eager to comply. He didn't give the man anything too strong, just some Pot and an E. Randy didn't like the effect that the E had on him but, found a blissful state when smoking Pot. Randy trained less, wrestled sloppier. He growled for the cameras, the fans and his friends and his smoked to forget the woman who'd ripped out his heart. Finally, John stepped in.

Randy sighed and picked up the picture of Sam and him kissing. He closed his eyes gently and ripped the photo in half. Feeling a sense of liberation he took the picture from his buck's night and ripped that in half as well. Despite his feelings of liberation tears began to fall as he turned back to the ultrasound picture and closing his eyes tightly ripped it in half, finally ready to say goodbye. In the morning he would put the engagement ring up on E-bay, some young guy can buy the love of his life a Tiffany's engagement ring for a quarter of the price Randy paid. Finally, he bent down and picked up the box at his feet; gently he placed the small bodysuit in the box and wrapped the twine back around it.

The man silently jogged through the house and shivered slightly in the cold air of the early morning. The sky was beginning to lighten as he jogged down the block, bare feet and wearing only shorts; he found what he was looking for. The gas station at the end of John's street had a large industrial bin around the side. Noticing no one nearby Randy jogged up to the bin and heaving it open gently with his good shoulder, cursing as his stitched up hand brushed across the lid, Randy threw the box in and jogged back to John's house.



He finally did what he told Alex he was doing early and relieved himself before crawling into bed next to Alex, now ready to fall asleep.

"Where you been?" Alex muttered curling up against the man,

"I went for a jog,"

"Cold," Alex replied halfheartedly rubbing her hands against Randy's chest trying to warm it up,

"It's a cool morning," Randy replied pulling Alex closer. He lent down and kissed Alex gently, running his hands up and down her back and holding her close. When they pulled apart Alex pulled herself up a little and reconnected the kiss.

Upstairs John was beginning to stir; he heard the front door open then close and was worried that Ashley had left. But, spying the messy dirty blonde hair spayed out across the spare pillow, John figured that the noise was Randy or Alex or both of them. A couple of minutes later he heard the door open and close again and figured whoever it was had returned.

When Ashley had kissed John earlier in the night he eagerly kissed back,

"Hi," he said when they finally pulled apart,

"Hey," Ashley blushed slightly leaning her head into the man's chest. John couldn't help but laugh slightly, the woman was so cute. He lifted her chin and kissed her again.

Looking around the dimly lit room, John knew that somewhere along the way they'd moved from the seat to the bed but had no recollection of it. The man had no direct intention of sleeping with Ashley but, when she came onto him so passionately how could he refuse? Besides there was no denying that John was a hot blooded male. He wondered if he'd regret it in the morning but when Ashley's hands began to move lower, John quickly pushed all those thoughts out of his mind.

Now lying in bed with Ashley sound asleep beside him and the sun slowly beginning to rise, John knew he'd made the right decision. John couldn't help but smile as the woman beside him let out something that was the cross between a sigh and a snore, it sounded so cute. Sleeping together was going to change their relationship, and John hoped it would just make it stronger. The man wondered if it was possible to sleep with someone and not have the relationship turn into just sex.

With Ashley he'd found something that he hadn't had before, he cared about getting to know her, to hear about her day and her crazy patients. John wanted to know about her siblings and how her parents always insist that their children come home every Sunday. He simply wanted to listen and learn; his favorite subject? Anything to do with Ashley!

John dozed for a couple more hours before dragging himself out of bed and through a shower. Ashley woke and began to freak out slightly, she didn't recognize her surroundings. Slowly, she began to remember the night before and groaned. Her heart sank when she looked over and discovered she was alone. Looking around slightly she spied a note sitting on top of a t-shirt beside the bed,

"Hey, I'm making breakfast so come downstairs – we have coffee! I couldn't find your shirt, sorry, but you can wear this one. John." Ashley felt a little better knowing that John hadn't completely disappeared when she remembered that it was his house, so he couldn't.

Ashley picked up the shirt and laughed when she saw it was one of John's WWE shirts, it was typical of the man to push his gimmick; he did it all the time in physical therapy. In desperate need of coffee the woman finally headed down stairs and into the kitchen. She was surprised to find it nearly empty; the only one there was a young woman.

"Hi, you must be Ashley, I'm Alex. The boys wanted bacon and eggs and had no ingredients so they've run down the shops, they'll be back shortly. Coffee is in the pot," Alex bubbled glancing up from the newspaper she was reading.

"Thanks. You're dating Randy aren't you?" Ashley asked hesitantly pouring herself a coffee. John had mentioned his friend's new love interest and had spoken of the insanity they'd put her through since they'd picked her up from the airport.

"If you could call it dating, it's more like riding a rollercoaster," Alex smiled, "what about you and John?"

"I don't know, we've had a couple of dates but, we slept together last night. So now I don't know,"

"I know what you mean. I'm quickly discovering that nothing is simple with those two. Do you want to see more of John?" Alex asked now folding the newspaper up.

"Yea, there is something about him that I can't escape if you know what I mean," Ashley felt herself blushing so, she buried her face in her coffee cup taking a gulp and nearly burning her throat in the process.

"Yea, I feel that way about Randy. I think John likes you,"

"Why do you say that?"

"Because apparently the fact you're still here and wasn't given the brush off is a big deal," Alex smiled feeling arms wrap around her middle.

"Hey Johnny? Should we be concerned that our girls are talking? You know they might be conspiring against us," Randy said leaning down and kissing Alex on the top of her head.

"_Our _girls?" Ashley asked turning to John who was putting the bag of groceries on the bench,

"His words, not mine! Besides I don't just sleep with anyone," John gave Randy an evil glare silently threatening to do serious harm if Randy made any comment to the contrary. Randy threw his hands up, he wasn't stupid.

John and Randy had been talking about the night before and it was so obvious that John was completely head of heels for the physical therapist. John had respected Randy around Alex so the least Randy could do was show the same respect to his friend.

"Maybe, I don't want to be your girl," Ashley said, her heart beating a million miles an hour, John wanted something more than just a one night stand.

"You're still here aren't you?"

"You mentioned coffee!"


	17. Chapter 17

"Come for the guy, stay for the coffee," Alex flashed a smile across to Ashley, "That's what I did, but now I'm stuck here with dumb and dumber. At least the coffee is good,"

"Only the best for the best in the… HEY!" Randy jumped slowly realizing what Alex had said.

"Aw don't worry baby, you're dumb… Johnny over there is dumber," Alex replied kissing Randy slightly,

"Haha! You're dumber… I'm only dumb but you're dumber," Randy taunted John

"Yea, you got me Dall! I can't beat you!" John replied attempting to wink at Ashley. His eye was slightly better but still swollen. It wasn't until the attempted wink and the cringe of pain that everyone really remembered the extent of John's injury.

"Okay, that hurt, note to self: don't wink" John winced.

"Dall, why don't we go get ready for the day; maybe John will lend us a car and we can go for a drive or something. I think these two probably want to talk," Alex said standing up,

"But, I want to know what happens,"

"You know Johnny will tell you everything. Anyway, there is a problem, one shower and two of us!" Alex smirked running her hand seductively down Randy's arm,

"You go shower and I'll stay and listen," Randy replied not understanding what the woman was implying.

"Sorry man, you are now officially dumber!" John replied shaking his head and joining Ashley and Alex in laughter,

"Huh?"

"Don't worry. Just go with Lex! I'll give you guys a call when breakfast is ready," John replied giving his friend a gentle shove.

John and Ashley watched Alex drag her boyfriend to the bedroom,

"Should we go upstairs or something? Give them some privacy?" Ashley asked cautiously,

"Nah, Dall's not getting laid,"

"So, why do you call him Dall?" Ashley asked, eagerly avoiding the topic at hand,

"Long story but, Lex does it so I do it to annoy him," John laughed slightly beginning to search the kitchen for the frying pan, "why'd you stay?" he asked with his head buried in a cupboard.

"I told you, coffee!" Ashley replied light heartedly. Even through the swelling and bruising Ashley could see the hurt look in John's face. He clearly hadn't noticed the bounce in her tone.

"Because you wouldn't let me leave," Ashley replied seriously,

"Huh?"

"I don't sleep with just anyone," she smiled.

"So, you'll stick around?" John asked hopefully.

"Yea, I guess I can do that. Especially if you feed me!" Excitedly John lent across the bench and kissed Ashley, she was going to stick around and give him a shot, "but there is one condition,"

"What?" John asked taken back,

"No, more sex,"

"What?" John struggled to keep his jaw from hitting the ground, sure he wanted to take things slow but he figured that after the night before sex would be part of the equation.

"You want to be with me just to sleep with me?" Ashley asked raising an eyebrow.

"Hell no,"

"Then prove it," Ashley smiled.



"Okay," John replied after a moment. He wasn't hesitant in accepting her challenge he just had to stop in awe; he admired the woman's stance.

Ashley watched John cook; glad to see she had found a man that was handy in the kitchen. John asked questions, eager to listen as Ashley talked amicably about her life. Every now and then he caught himself staring and realized that the bacon was starting to burn. Whenever it happened Ashley let out a slight laugh and John's legs went weak.

Finally he called out to Randy and Alex and moments later Alex came bounding out of the room followed by Randy.

"You're still here? Great! Come on throw everything in a basket, Dall says there is a park near here, let's have a picnic," Alex rushed out clearly in a hyper mood. John looked to his friend for guidance but he just shrugged.

Randy had come out of the shower to a completely hyper Alex. She kissed him wildly, refusing to let her nervous inhibitions stop her from doing something she really wanted to. Unknown to Randy, Alex had just gotten off the phone after playing mind games with her mother. While she didn't directly tell her mother that she was dating the beloved Randy Orton. The phone call had left her mother completely confounded and Alex quite pleased with herself.

"Hey, maybe Dall did get laid!" John shrugged watching Alex and Randy kiss before trying to find something that resembled the basket Alex had requested.

"I wish," Randy sighed half heartedly. After packing up the meal the foursome got in the car and drove the 5 minutes to the park, which they were decisively too lazy to walk to. They had brunch and hung out for a while before John remembered he had a ball in the car. As the boys began to play some ball game both girls called out warnings of care. Ashley, knowing his pec still wasn't all that strong, didn't want John to re-injure it and Alex didn't want Randy to do anymore damage to his already destroyed shoulder.

Randy tired of the game within half an hour, the events of the night before and the fact he only got a couple of hours of sleep were catching up with him and he lay down on the blanket they'd bought. John, losing his playmate and unable to get the girls to play, ended up lying down as well. Soon the four of them were sound asleep on the blanket, the warm sun of early summer making them all tired.

"Hey look! It's John Cena and Randy Orton," Randy and John heard some people coming towards them,

"Oh, look at their faces. You know what they're probably drunk!" Randy felt John's hand on his arm as he began to move.

"If you hit them, Vince will kill you," John growled knowing that his friend would be likely to snap, "we're not drunk," John said pulling himself to his feet trying not to wake Ashley in the process,

"Oh yea, then what are you doing then?"

"It's called sleeping! People do it on occasion," Randy hissed also pulling himself up.

"Whatever,"



"What do you guys want?" John asked addressing the two young men that had woken them.

"Oh, just wondering how much you paid for those hookers," one of them smirked knowing that they had already annoyed the men. Without thinking John pulled his arm back before connecting his closed fist with the young man's face. The man stumbled backwards falling to the ground grabbing his nose, blood starting to creep through his fingers.

"You broke my nose! John Cena broke my nose!" John crouched down getting right up in the young man's face.

"You call our girlfriends hookers one more time and I'll do a hell of a lot more than break your nose! Understand?"

"Y...y… yes sir!" The young man stuttered pulling himself to his feet, "come on lets go," he said grabbing his friend and backing off.

"Huh?" Randy asked turning to his friend,

"You're skating on thin ice but, Vince likes me," John shrugged rubbing his knuckles, "that punk has a hard nose," he laughed causing Randy to laugh as well.

John thought that fan loyalty was key but relationships were more important. He believed that you had to be loyal to your loved ones, or the ones you thought you may end up loving. If you let someone talk trash about your partner, no matter how new, then you don't deserve them and you are setting yourself up for heartache.

John and Randy woke the girls up, who'd amazingly stayed asleep during the altercation, and headed back to the house. It didn't take long for the young men to get their experience with John and Randy on all the wrestling sites and soon, Senior Vice President of Talent Relations, John Laurinaitis was on the phone. He ranted and raved for a few minutes before demanding to know what happened to John's face, lying John told him it was a DDR accident, something that happened after 7 hrs of the game.

Despite John's invite Ashley didn't stay another night, claiming that she had to feed her dog and her parents were expecting her the next day. Besides, no matter what John said, she couldn't wear his clothes all the time.

"When will I see you again?" John asked later that evening when Ashley was saying goodbye,

"When do you have therapy?"

"Wednesday,"

"I'll see you then,"

"How about Friday night?"

"That's after Wednesday,"

"I know, but I want you to myself. What about dinner and bowling?"

"Sounds good," Ashley smiled. John lent in and kissed the woman gently, "See you Wednesday Johnny," Ashley waved heading out to her car. John watched as his new girlfriend drove away, finally he closed the door leaning back against it. There was no denying that the woman completely captivated him, he was smitten and the more time John spent with Ashley the worse he got.

Randy watched his friend nearly float up the stairs,

"I think our little Johnny is in love," Alex smiled at Randy

"I think I'm going to hurl," Randy replied rolling his eyes,



"What's wrong with love?" Alex pouted. She wasn't a big fan of it herself but, was a romantic at heart. She believed in Walt Disney's promise that for every girl there is a Prince Charming, she just hadn't found hers yet. Alex was secretly hoping that Randy was going to be the Prince she was looking for, so he wasn't exactly Prince Charming but, perhaps he could be Prince Dall. She smiled slightly, Prince Dall had a nice ring to it so did Alex Orton for that matter.

"Nothing, unless it's him, then it's just wrong" Randy replied utterly confused at the look on his girlfriend's face.

"Why?"

"Because if he falls in love he may attempt to reproduce and do you really want a bunch of little Cena's running around?" Randy asked producing the scenario as if it would be a world crisis.

"At least they'd be good looking, better than if you reproduced," Alex winked knowing that she would get a reaction out of her boyfriend.

"You think that Cena could produce better looking kids than me?"

"Pretty much," Alex smirked,

"Want to be proved wrong?"

"No, Ashley would probably have a problem with me sleeping with her boyfriend," Alex smirked only to have Randy's face drop.

"If you're going to sleep with anyone it's going to be YOUR boyfriend! Cena is NOT getting laid twice in one week!"

"When you don't get laid at all?"

"Exactly,"

"Oh poor baby," Alex pouted sarcastically.

She lent in kissing Randy, deepening the kiss Alex straddled Randy. Running her hands up and down the man's chest Alex noticed that Randy's heart beat was beginning to quicken as her hands dropped lower each time. When Alex was sure that Randy thought he was definitely getting action she pulled back and headed for the stairs,

"Where are you going?"

"To make better looking kids," Alex winked,

"What?"

"I'm going to play PacMan," Alex grinned in response running up the stairs.

John spent the first half of the week in a stupor; all he could think about was seeing Ashley again and worried about what would happen when he eventually went back on the road. It didn't cross his mind that he and Ashley might not still be together when he got back on the road. His future was full of Ashley. At therapy John did his exercises but, didn't take his eyes off Ashley. Kyle grew frustrated and decided to keep upping the weight on the machine John was using. Completely captivated by the daily tasks that his girlfriend was doing John didn't notice the weight change until he tried to lift it and he dropped the weight in agony.

"What the hell?" John asked grabbing his injured pec.

"Stop staring and pay attention," Kyle hissed.

"You upped the weights! Are you trying to reinjure me?" John asked jumping to his feet and confronting the man,

"I'm trying to get you to pay attention!"

"Not the way to do it!"

"What's going on?" Ashley asked hearing the commotion.

"This moron is trying to reinjure me"

"I was trying to get him to pay attention,"

"By upping the weights, he nearly tore my flipping pec again,"

"Kyle, you know better than that. I'll finish with John for you," Ashley reprimanded her co-worker and John smiled knowing that he would get to spend some time with his girlfriend's hands on his chest,

"Thought you couldn't date patients,"

"You're not my patient," Ashley smiled, "Lie down; I'll make sure he didn't do anything serious,"

"I miss you," John sighed lying down,

"You're pathetic," Ashley reprimanded her boyfriend but, checked around to ensure they weren't being watched before leaning in and kissing him gently.

The next day, Thursday, was the day Randy was having his surgery. So, Wednesday afternoon Alex spoke to John about doing something special. The two men were upstairs playing Judge Dread when Alex sauntered up to her boyfriend,

"Dinner's ready," she announced running her hand down his arm, ensuring to be careful of his shoulder.

"Alright, I'll be down in a minute,"

"I don't think you get it. I said _dinner is ready_," Alex replied once again running her hand down his arm.

"Yea, Dall. _Dinner is ready_," John added in a seductive tone.

"Okay, I'm going to go with Alex right now… Because you're scaring me," Randy replied dropping the gun and backing away slowly. Alex followed Randy out of the room but ducked back quickly,

"Oh yea, Johnny, I left some food in the kitchen for you,"

"Thanks," John replied not turning from his game.

Alex followed Randy down the stairs then taking his hand led him through his bedroom and out into the backyard. Alex had set candles up throughout the yard and in the middle was a blue tartan picnic blanket and cane basket,

"Wow, I guess dinner really is ready," Randy said in shock, not quite sure what to think, "Did you do this?"

"Yea, come on, I made chicken stir fry salad. I know you like steak but you can't have the fatty food before your surgery," Alex blurted nervously. Randy was quickly growing accustomed to Alex's nervous ramblings; he just saw it as one more of Alex's many endearing qualities. He silently marked romantic picnic dinners as another.

Randy generally wasn't a big fan of the romantic stuff, he tended to think any date with him was perfect, especially if it involved sex. But, being with Alex was bringing out a romantic side in him. He'd been out with John earlier in the week and he walked past a flower stand, Randy couldn't help himself he had to stop and buy a dozen Tiger Lily's knowing that they were Alex's favorite. Alex had cried when he'd given them to her, she'd tried to hide the tears but Randy 

found it cute, he figured that Alex didn't have a lot of guys buying her flowers and made a mental note to do it more often.

"Why did you do this?" Randy asked while they ate and Alex shrugged in response, "no one has ever done something like this for me, so why did you do it?" Randy asked toying with the food on his place,

"You're freaked about tomorrow; I just wanted you to relax," Alex shrugged looking down at her food. Alex felt her face get hot and knew she was blushing, she instantly began silently berating herself for doing such a thing, Randy was bound to think it was stupid.

"Alex, look at me," Randy said moving closer, slowly the woman raised her head and faced the man who was now sitting right in front of her, somewhere along the way he must have moved the food, "thank you," he whispered leaning in and kissing her.

Randy was taken back, the simple gesture that Alex had made meant more to him that any Championship. He needed to show Alex that, he could buy her flowers or chocolates, but they were all simply material things, things that didn't last. They were the equivalent of every championship in the world, and nowhere near close enough to demonstrating how much the simple gesture meant to Randy. He knew that, with every beat of his heart, he loved Alex, that's why he needed to say goodbye to his past. He needed to open up that last little closed section so that he could be free to love the woman with everything he had.

Randy couldn't tell Alex he loved her, he didn't want to scare her off and wasn't prepared to risk the hurt he'd suffer. He needed to know that she felt the same way before he put his heart on the line like that. Instead Randy decided to show her how gracious he was, how he really felt. Randy stood up and held out his hand,

"Dance with me?" He asked nervously. He felt like a boy at his first dance. His heart skipped a beat when he felt Alex's hand in his, still slightly bandaged one; he pulled Alex to her feet and wrapped his arm around her. Together they danced in the moonlight, dancing to the music in their heads. Finally pulling apart Randy held Alex's hand firmly leading her back into the house.

An hour later John glanced out his bedroom window and smiled, the candles were still slowly burning and the meals lay abandoned on the picnic blanket. Knowing that it was going to be a good night for his best friend he closed the drapes and called his girlfriend,

"Dall's getting laid".


	18. Chapter 18

"Dall's getting laid,"

"And you've called to tell me this why?"

"What? A guy can't call his girlfriend for no reason?" John asked pretending to be insulted,

"No, but he needs a reason for calling his girlfriend to tell her someone else is getting laid,"

"Well, Dall's getting laid and I'm not and I can't talk to Lex because if Dall's getting laid then she's getting laid. Since I'm not getting laid I figured I can do the next best thing and talk to you," John rambled sounding like a complete idiot.

"Is sex all you men think about?"

"No, I also think about you oh and food,"

"I'm… flattered?" Ashley responded slightly confused.

"So you should be".

She laughed at him, "You are such a guy," she said.

"If I wasn't we wouldn't be having this conversation ... or would we?" he asked curiously,

"No we wouldn't".

Randy woke up a couple of hours later, with a dull ache in his shoulder. Not even the increasing pain could destroy his blissful state. Alex had certainly accomplished her task, he was completely relaxed and the surgery was the last thing on his mind. In fact, lying in bed with Alex's body wrapped around him he'd completely forgotten about what was happening later that day. Watching the woman in his arms Randy began to doze off, he still had a couple hours before he had to get up so there was no point ruining the mood and staying awake.

An hour later Alex stirred, a feeling rising from deep within her, something she hadn't felt before. Unable to avoid it any longer she opened her eyes and looked at the man who she had slept with. She'd given Randy a part of herself and unlike so many nights where she gave herself away, things were right with Randy. Alex was scared, she felt safe and at peace in Randy's arms. Looking at his face, Alex realized that Randy had given part of himself away as well, that he'd let down the final barrier. There was no Legend Killer left in Randy's face, instead Alex saw a hurting young man.

Gently Alex pealed Randy's arm away from her, she needed to relieve herself, but didn't want to disturb the man especially when he was going to have a horrible day. Alex ducked into the spare room, where her suitcase still was, she wanted to find her pajamas. It wasn't that she didn't immensely enjoy being naked with Randy, but as a child she was told that if she slept naked that men would creep in and sexually assault her and the fear had stuck.

Changing into a tank top and boxer shorts Alex caught a glimpse of something in the trash. Letting curiosity reign she finished changing and stuck her hand in the trash can. When she pulled her hand out Alex was holding a photo. It was torn in half, but Alex could tell that it was a picture of Randy kissing someone.

She looked in the trash and found the other piece, sitting under another torn photo. Alex recognized the second photo straight away; it was from Randy's bachelor's party and had been all over the internet. She'd pushed it aside and held the pieces of the first picture together. Randy was in a passionate embrace with a beautiful brunette. Alex had seen a picture of the woman before, it was Randy's ex-fiancé Samantha.

The couple had separated 2-years prior and their break up had made international news in the wrestling world. There was speculation over what had ended their relationship, but both had kept silent, how could they find the words to explain what had torn them apart?

Alex wondered why the picture was in the trash can; surely it had been emptied at least once in the last two years. She pulled out the other torn picture she'd found and thought back to the weekend. Randy had disappeared for much of the night, he thought she didn't know but she'd woken up and realized that he wasn't with her. She'd gotten up and realized the light was on the guest room, Alex had seen Randy undoing the twine on a shoebox and she'd left him to it.

Alex was beginning to realize that the shoebox had contained the photos she was now looking at. Staring at the photos she sat down against the bed as the magnitude of the situation began to sink in. Randy had held onto those photos for two years, and Alex wondered if finding them in the trash was Randy's way of finally letting go. Alex remembered when Randy finally got back into bed, how cool his chest had been. He must have done a cool down after his jog, Alex thought, as she realized why he'd gone running at such an early hour.

Glancing up Alex could just make out Randy's sleeping form in the next room. The light from the guest room shone gently on the bed, the last few days Randy seemed to have relaxed slightly. It was as though a weight had been lifted off his back, he was still hurting and there was no doubt he was nervous about his surgery, but something in Randy had changed.

Looking at the sleeping silhouette, Alex smiled. Clearly Randy's past had been heavily playing on his mind and Alex hoped that dealing with it, in whatever private way Randy had, would mean that things could evolve between the two of them. Tossing the pictures in the trash Alex headed back to bed. Crawling beneath the covers Alex made a mental note to ask John about Randy's failed relationship while the man was in surgery, but right then she needed to be with Randy.

Alex had no intentions of waking her boyfriend. But, when she lay against his chest Alex felt Randy's arms wrap around her,

"Where were you?" He asked softly,

"Getting changed,"

"Why?"

"Long story," Alex muttered; it wasn't the time or place to get into her irrational fears. She didn't give him a chance to respond; instead Alex kissed the man gently.

Randy smiled and returned the kiss,

"You know," Randy said as things began to heat up, "you got changed… Now I'm going to go through the whole process of getting you naked again!"

"Who says you're going to get that far?" Alex smirked,

"I'm having major surgery tomorrow, I need to relax, you said so yourself," Randy replied matter-of-factly.

"Well if it's for medicinal purposes how could I refuse?"

"Exactly, medicinal purposes… What's medicinal?"

"Just kiss me," Alex replied rolling her eyes.

John had no interest in disturbing Randy and Alex, he knew what they'd gotten up to and had no real interest in seeing Alex naked. If that happened, bad shoulder or not, Randy would kill him and things with Ashley were just starting to get really good, John didn't want to die anytime soon. Finally, he found the nerve and woke them, not opening the door until Randy made a smart ass comment about him finally showing some decency. Luckily, Alex had covered herself before he did.

Randy went to shower while Alex and John had breakfast and exchanged small talk,

"Hey John?" Randy asked, buttoning up his shirt as he emerged, "what's medicinal?" Alex rolled her eyes and went several shades of red,

"Give it up Dall," She muttered,

"Something to do with Pot, I think," John replied staring at the coffee maker. He'd seen the shades that Alex had turned and realized the word must have come up at some point the night before.

Later, at the hospital Alex was sitting with Randy waiting for the surgeon. She listened as the man talked a million miles an hour rambling on about everything and anything. Randy held Alex's hand tightly; there was no denying that he was scared of the impending surgery. Alex felt the all too familiar butterflies in her stomach and quickly realized that she wasn't feeling as brave as she was acting. She tried to push the butterflies aside, she needed to be brave because if she wasn't Randy would freak out even more.

When the Dr. Andrews walked in Alex thought that Randy was going to break her hand,

"So Randy, if you'll follow me we'll head to the Operating Theater," Dr. Andrews said after he'd finished explaining the surgery. Randy looked over at Alex still not letting go of her hand, "I'm sorry Randy, you'll have to say your goodbyes here. Alex can't come into the operating theater". Alex saw the fear in Randy's eyes and wrapped him in a hug,

"You'll be fine," she whispered before kissing him slightly.

Alex watched as Randy walked around the corner before returning to the waiting room where John was waiting. Only one person had been allowed to wait with Randy and John had insisted that Alex go.

"Hey John?" Alex asked sitting down beside her boyfriend's best friend,

"Yea?" John asked looking up from the latest issue of Sports Illustrated,

"Why did Dall and Sam break up?" Alex asked carefully. After finding the picture the night before she really wanted to know the answer, but asking John could be seen as going behind Randy's back. She didn't worry about calling her Sam that was the name that everyone had used on the internet; it wasn't as if their relationship had been all that hush-hush.

"Sam didn't trust him anymore," John replied after a moment.

"Why not?"

"You're going to have to ask Dall about that sorry. Let's go get something to eat," John replied quickly changing the subject,

"Did Dall cheat on her?" Alex asked still pushing,

"Nah, he'd never cheat. I know you care about Dall and I know the reason you're asking is because you want to get closer to him, but it's not my place to tell," John smiled draping an arm around her shoulder.

They went and got some food, wasting an hour mucking around at the McDonald's that was in the hospital. Finally one of the staff asked them to leave; they were disrupting other people's meals. Alex blushed feverishly; she'd been kicked out of places plenty of times before but always felt bad about it.

Laughing they stopped via the vending machine before returning to the waiting area. Entering the room John hesitated a moment before rushing forward and embracing a woman that Alex had never seen before but looked slightly familiar,

"Elaine!" John cried, "You came?"

"Of course I came!" Elaine Orton replied shaking her head at the man, "you must be Alex," The woman said pulling away from John and turning to Alex, "I'm Elaine Orton, Randy's mom".

"Nice to meet you," Alex said nervously. Wasn't meeting the parents meant to be a big step in a relationship? Did this meeting count?

"Don't be nervous dear, I'm just like everyone else. Except I run a mad house and got the luck of having my husband away most of our marriage. It's true what they say, absence does make the heart grow fonder," Elaine smiled rambling slightly.

"Speaking of husbands, did Bob come?" John asked,

"No, he had work commitments,"

"But, he's retired," John retaliated. He hated the fact that Bob couldn't put their dispute aside and be there for his son.

"John honey, I know you care about Randy and want them to sort this out. But this is their battle, not ours so we have to stay out of it," Elaine replied gently.

"You're Dall's mom," Alex whispered. She'd been staring at the woman for the past couple of minutes, watching as she bantered with John,

"Yes, dear I am," Elaine smiled realizing that Alex was nervous,

"Oh don't mind her Elaine, she's just freaking out because last night, while your little boy should have been resting, she was screwing his brains out,"

"Johnathon Felix Anthony Cena! I taught you better than that! Now apologize to this gorgeous young woman," Elaine jumped introducing her hand to the back of John's head.

"You didn't teach me anything," John replied defiantly, rubbing where the woman had hit,

"I beg your pardon? What did I tell you the very first day you stepped foot in my house?"

"That just because we were big stars didn't mean we didn't have to show respect, honesty, dignity especially to females and just because we might be the object of most women's fantasies, didn't mean we could use it to our advantage. And if you ever found out that we were being disrespectful you were going to hunt us down and castrate us in our sleep," John replied sheepishly.

Alex smiled; Elaine certainly knew how to humble the boys, well John at least.

"So," Alex began carefully, "I shouldn't mention how you and Dall dragged me to a strip club two nights ago? Or how you two spent the entire night drooling and sticking 1 bills in stripper's thongs?" John's face was priceless. His eyes widened and he threw his hands up in the air,

"We didn't I swear we didn't! We would never do such a thing. Especially as Randy's dating Alex and I'm dating a wonderful woman who I may even be in love with. Her name is Ashley, I can give you her number if you don't believe me. We would never disrespect our girlfriends or other women like that. Alex is lying I SWEAR!" John rushed out trying to defend himself.

"Jonathon, are you accusing this beautiful young woman of lying? How dare you! Apologize at once," Elaine scolded,

"But… but… she is lying! I swear… Please don't hurt me," John sobbed pathetically.

"If you can't apologize and admit to your disgusting behavior Alex and I will just have to leave you to it. Come on darling, let's go have coffee," Elaine smiled walking off. Alex glanced back and stuck her tongue out at John who was now sitting with his hands in his head.

"You don't really believe that they dragged me to a strip club do you?" Alex asked as they sat down at the coffee shop.

"No, I know Randy would never do something like that, especially when he is dating someone. But, he'd let it slip that John was dating someone so I knew that if I reacted the way I did he would spill," Elaine smiled gently, "oh and darling, I'm not stupid enough to think that my son is innocent or a virgin so don't worry," she said trying to get Alex to relax. They kept talking until the beeper the nurse had given them went off.

Heading back to the waiting area they were met by John looking as nervous as when they left him. He grabbed Alex and pulled her aside,

"Are you TRYING to kill me?"

"No, just do the world a favor," Alex shrugged in response more concerned in knowing what the doctor had to say,

"Huh?"

"Just making sure you NEVER reproduce!" Alex smirked. Talking to Elaine she'd discovered more of John and Randy's antics that she planned to use against them later. But, at the moment she was having enough fun torturing John over the supposed strip club.

"Alex, John! The surgeon's here," Elaine smiled knowing that John was still nervous she looped her arm in his,

"Don't worry John; I know that you didn't go to a strip club,"

"You do? So my jewels are safe?"

"Yes, your 'jewels' are safe," Elaine replied rolling her eyes slightly.

The three spoke to Dr. Andrews and learnt that the surgery went well however, they wouldn't know if Randy had a chance of wrestling again until he began the rehabilitation process.

Randy was still out to it when they entered the room and at Elaine's insistence Alex took the seat next to the bed. She sat there not really knowing what to do so she held his hand,

"Alex?" Randy muttered waking up,

"Yea?"

"You're still here," he smiled slightly before looking around, "where is John?" he finally asked,

"Went to the bathroom, how are you feeling munchkin?"

"Mom?" Randy asked smiling. He had Alex and John, who were going to be there for him the whole way, but, he didn't expect his mom to show up,

"John called," Elaine smiled patting her son's leg.

"Dad?"

"He's busy," Randy's face dropped. Even though he knew that his father wouldn't come, it still hurt. Deep down Randy had thought that maybe, his father would be able to put their dispute aside. But Randy wasn't even the one to call his family so why should his father come?

"DALL!" John cried walking in the room with a large bundle of balloons every color and size."'It's a Boy!'?" Alex asked reading one of the balloons,

"Well he is! You slept with him you should know that".


	19. Chapter 19

Randy was in hospital for a couple of days. The next morning John had physical therapy so Alex and Elaine headed to visit Randy. The night before had been slightly nerve racking for Alex when Elaine told her she'd sleep in the guest room, after all Alex was sharing Randy's bed. Elaine's comment had made Alex blush but, after she cleaned her stuff out, Elaine happily settled in. It was weird being in Randy's bed without him; she could smell his scent on the bedding and realized that she should probably change the sheets before Randy came home.

"Oh, I ran into Sam's mother the other day," Elaine smiled at her son who was a lot more awake than the night before, "Sam is getting married,"

"Really?"

"Yes, she's apparently really happy and has got her life sorted out. They're even talking about adoption,"

"That's great," Randy muttered looking down at his arm which lay limp beside him. The pain was horrific without moving it so he was happy to let it stay in position.

"What's wrong? Does your arm hurt?"

"Yea, but it's not a big deal," Randy replied, "You know… It wasn't my fault that Sam lost the baby," added after a moment,

"FINALLY! Now if only you're father would realize this things would be back to normal,"

"No, mom, things will never get back to normal. But they can be better," Randy smiled hopefully.

"Maybe you can get your life back on track and settle down,"

"My life is on track,"

"You broke your best friend's face a week ago…"

"Okay, so I slipped a little," Randy shrugged but, smiled when he saw Alex coming towards them. She'd gone off to look for coffee and give Randy and his mom some private time, "but, I think I've found someone to settle down with". Randy knew that he was completely and utterly in love with Alex and vowed not to let her slip through his hands like he had Sam.

Elaine stayed for a month, helping out around the house, the night before she left John and Ashley were on the couch watching a movie and she dropped something in the man's lap,

"Hey, that's my favorite shirt!" John exclaimed looking at the object,

"Yea, Randy said you lost it. Anyway I was cleaning his house, do you know your room is messier than every other room in the house combined? And I found it," Elaine shrugged.

Three more months passed and Randy's shoulder slowly started to recover; there were many tears and arguments, mainly between him and John. Over the time Ashley grew distant, John had to initiate everything and when he asked her if she was trying to brush him off she denied it. She couldn't avoid him because he was still at physical therapy and he now dropped Randy off as well and it wasn't as though she wanted to avoid him.

One night John was over her house and they were making dinner. John walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around Ashley and she shrugged him off.

"Ash, what's going on? Do you hate me? Do you want me to leave?" John asked dejected,

"No, sit down," Ashley sighed knowing it was time to tell the truth. John sat down and she sat beside him,

"John, I'm pregnant," she rushed out biting her lip,

"Okay, umm… How far along are you?" John asked trying to figure out why she was telling him. They'd only slept together once, surely it couldn't be his,

"Four months,"

"And who's the father?" John asked, wondering if she was going to try and get him to father some other man's kid or if this was just some way of breaking up with him,

"You,"

"Uh… what? When did this happen? How did this happen? We only slept together once!"

"That's all it takes," Ashley muttered knowing that John was going to break her heart.

"I need to go. Look, I'll call you Monday," John replied heading for the door,

"No, you won't," Ashley muttered trying to stifle a sob. John turned back to her and lifted her chin kissing her slightly,

"Yea, I will I'm not a jerk. I just need time. You've had four months, I've had four minutes," John said heading for his car. Ashley's words kept echoing in his head, she was pregnant and he was the father. John couldn't believe it, how could he be so stupid?

He got home and headed to Randy's room, ignoring the couple on the couch. He pulled out an overnight bag and started throwing Randy's clothes in it. Randy and him had a cabin in Hampton, two hours North East. That was where they went to deal with their dramas and to solve the problems of the world. They'd spent 3 months there when Randy was going through withdrawal and coming out his drug haze. They'd spend a couple of days there before John's surgery as well. It was their escape pod.

"What are you doing?" Randy asked, standing at the bedroom door. His rehabilitation was going well, but he still had many painful days and needed to wear a sling more often than not.

"We're going to the cabin," John replied zipping up the overnight bag before brushing past Randy on route to his bedroom,

"Why?"

"Your mom is going to kill me," John sighed, "Alex, I'm stealing your boyfriend for the weekend," he said noticing Alex on the couch,

"Why?"

"Elaine is going to kill me!"

"Not my fault!" Alex replied throwing her arms up in the air,

"No, this one is all my doing," John replied disappearing up the stairs.

Randy decided not to follow and sat back down beside Alex, resting his head against her shoulder.

"Tired?"

"Yea,"

"Go to bed,"

"Can't, not if we're going to the cabin," Randy sighed in response. He'd been looking forward to a quiet night with Alex. His rehab and normally crazy life meant that the couple hadn't had much time alone in the past couple of months. John had planned to spend the evening at Ashley's giving them some alone time but, his sudden return changed everything,

"So don't go,"

"If he's talking about the cabin it's serious. We only go there for the real big stuff," Randy replied as John came back down the stairs,

"This is big trust me!"

"Are you going to tell us then?" Alex asked sarcastically. John could be a self-centered jerk but this was a John she'd never seen before,

"Later, come on Randy," John replied grabbing Randy's overnight bag in one hand and holding his own in the other, "we'll be back Monday,"

"I'll miss you," Randy sighed making eye contact with his girlfriend,

"Good! John, you owe me some big ass Snickers for this!" Alex growled at her boyfriend's best friend,

"Yea, alright. Now kiss him so we can leave already!" Alex sighed and pulled Randy in for a kiss, making it last longer than necessary just to piss John off.

"Okay, so are you going to tell me what the big deal is or do I have to wait the entire two and a half hour drive to find out? Oh and I hope you remembered to pack my meds," Randy said when John pulled out onto the highway.

"I don't know if I can say it," John replied. Randy looked at his friend's hands, they were grasping the steering wheel so tight his knuckles had gone white.

"Oh god, don't tell me you did something stupid like, get Ashley pregnant," Randy rolled his eyes.

"Ah…" John replied not taking his eyes off the road.

"Oh god she's pregnant isn't she?" Randy sighed,

"Sort of,"

"And you're the father?"

"Apparently," John replied sounding like a child in trouble.

"My mom is going to kill you," Randy looked over and saw that John had turned a lighter shade of pale, the man looked like a ghostHe shook his head and the two remained silent the rest of the trip to the cabin, only speaking when they reached the grocery store to pick up some necessary supplies; coke and chips. Usually they went for alcohol but, Randy had unanimously been banned from the stuff after an intervention when Elaine had been visiting.

"You know," Randy said the next morning while John was wallowing in his Apple Jacks, "there is this amazing invention… It's called a CONDOM! Perhaps you should invest in a pack?"

"It's too late now isn't it?" John mused; they continued their breakfast in silence. There really wasn't much to say. John needed time to get used to the fact that he was going to be a father and a place to hide until he was ready to deal with it. Randy was there for moral support and to give any necessary pep talks, but he wasn't going to offer one if John didn't want it.

After breakfast the boys watched some old wrestling tapes, evaluating the matches as they went. Randy's shoulder meant that physical activity was limited, however during the weekend they took the opportunity to do a bit of fishing. It wasn't an activity the friends did on a regular basis, they didn't even enjoy it that much, but with the cabin being right on the lake they couldn't resist. They didn't catch much, both men being hopeless fishermen, but they caught enough for that night's dinner.

"Dude, I think there is like a limit on how big they have to be to keep." Randy said looking at the assortment of various fish.

"Shut up and gut the damn fish, Dall." John said.

"Like I know what the hell I'm doing, this is gross! It's looking at me!" Randy muttered poking a fish's eye with the knife.

"Dude, I should have left you home and brought Lex instead at least she would know what's she's doing. You should be ashamed of yourself, your girlfriend knows more about this stuff than you do," John replied frustrated,

"At least she's not pregnant!" Dall hissed back.

John was nervous on Monday night when he found himself standing at Ashley's front door. Looking through the side window he could see that the hallway was dark, but that didn't mean anything. John had been dating Ashley long enough to know that she only ever turned the hall light on when there were guests. Sure enough, moments after knocking the room lit up,

"You said you were going to ring," Ashley hissed as she opened the door, it didn't take an idiot to figure out she was angry.

"Well, I came instead," John muttered walking past his girlfriend. Surely him showing up was better than him calling?

"You said you were going to ring!"

"I know, but Dall and I were up at the cabin this weekend. Anyway, the idiot can't read a map and got us lost. So, once I saw the time I dropped Dall off, before Alex killed me, and came straight here,"

"You smell," Ashley replied walking past John and into the lounge,

"No shower at the cabin and like I said I came straight here," John shrugged slightly, "I think it's just my shirt though, I was wearing it while we gutted fish last night," Ashley just looked at him, "You and Dall gutting fish? No offense but, you two don't seem like the outdoorsy type, that's more Alex and my area." She said skeptically. John just shrugged,

"Food is food".

Ashley disappeared momentarily returning with a clean shirt in hand; it was the shirt that John had given her the morning after they'd slept together. John had noticed it missing and soon discovered that she enjoyed sleeping in it. He pulled off his dirty shirt and accepted the one Ashley was holding out to him,

"I'm keeping the baby," Ashley said as John was pulling the shirt over his head,

"Good," he started as his head came through the hole, "because, I didn't psyche myself up and get the worst pep-talk in the world to have you say that you're not keeping the baby. I'm going to be a daddy!" John smiled,

"Who says that you're going to be in this baby's life?" Ashley asked guarded. She was certain John was there to break up with her.

"Well it will be hard not to be if I'm in a relationship with the baby's mother," John smiled noticing Ashley's guardedness.

"Relationship?"

"Yea, the last time I checked we were dating and I certainly don't plan on dumping you, unless you're planning on dumping me?" John asked realizing that Ashley may no longer want anything to do with him.

Ashley shook her head nervously, she was in shock,

"You're not going to break up with me?" she asked slowly,

"No, why would I?"

"Because, I'm pregnant," Ashley muttered,

"Ashley, babe come sit with me," John sighed gently taking her hand and leading her to the couch, "baby or no baby, I love you and nothing is going to change that. I hope that one day you'll feel the same way. You know, I am quite lovable," John attempted to smile but he was too caught up in the woman's eyes, they were full of fear and uncertainty, "And you know what? We're going to have a baby and I think that you must feel pretty good about me because you wouldn't have told me you were pregnant if you didn't. The future, it's pretty uncertain, but we'll sort it out. I hope that one day we can get married and give this little one," John patted Ashley's stomach gently, "a football team of brothers and sisters, but we can work that out later,"

"So… You're not going to dump me?" Ashley asked one more time,

"It's definitely not on my agenda,"

"I love you," she muttered cursing her hormones as she felt tears beginning to fall,

"Love me in that 'I love you because you bought me coffee' thing or love me in the 'I think I could see myself growing old with you," John asked hoping to break the tension,

"I think I could see myself growing old with you," Ashley muttered in a barely audible whisper. John saw her tears and lifted her chin wiping them away with his thumb, he kissed her lightly,

"We're having a baby!" He whispered, before jumping up and pulling Ashley with him, "WE'RE HAVING A BABY!" He cried spinning her around.

"Man, you really stink," Ashley muttered pulling away,

"Alright, alright I'll go home and shower,"

"Why?" Ashley asked,

"Because, you just said I stink," John was confused, was Ashley suffering short term memory loss?

"Why don't you stay here and shower?"

"Because, all my clothes smell, but at home I have clean clothes,"

"But, then I won't see you," Ashley muttered hopelessly. She silently cursed her hormones, there was no way she'd be so pathetic if it wasn't for the baby.

"You can come with me if you want," John shrugged. He was confused what the big deal was. Sure he wanted to spend more time with Ashley but she was the one who'd complained about his smell, besides she was acting as though it was the end of the world if they didn't spend more time together.

When John pushed open the front door the place was completely dark,

"Hang on," he muttered to Ashley before cursing as he stubbed his toe against something. He stumbled around before finding the light switch and sighting the offending object, Randy had dumped his bag in the hallway, "ORTON!"

"That's why I leave the lights on!" John heard the muffled replied and momentarily forgetting that Ashley was with him picked up Randy's bag and marched down to the man's room, swinging open the door the threw the bag in the room, "put your crap away next time!" John hissed.

"I guess things didn't go well with Ashley," Randy smirked as John slammed the door shut,

"What went on with them anyway? You two headed off to 'the cabin' like the world was going to end," Alex asked,

"John knocked up Ashley," Randy shrugged before rolling the dice. They were playing Monopoly, neither in the mood for a movie. Alex was unable to control herself and laughed, "what?" Randy asked confused,

"Your mom is going to kill him,"

"Yea,"

"So, if you two run off to the cabin when that sort of thing happens it would be a good idea to wait until the weekend to tell you that I'm pregnant?" Alex asked half-heartedly as she was counting out the money needed to buy a property,

"Well, since we're both on injury leave it doesn't… Wait… What?" Randy asked dropping the dice on the board.


	20. Chapter 20

Alex couldn't help but smirk at her boyfriend's reaction, her subtle hint was slowly sinking in and he was more than slightly confused,

"Wait… What?" Randy asked as the dice fell to the monopoly and bounced lightly,

"Thatcounts as your roll," Alex quipped more than slightly nervous and trying to duck out of telling Randy the truth.

"Huh?" Randy asked getting even more confused,

"You dropped the dice, that's counted as your roll, it's in the rule book" Alex explained hoping her boyfriend would be distracted.

It'd had been three months since she'd peed on a stick only to have it inform her that she was pregnant. She knew it was Randy's, but was having trouble comprehending the idea, they'd only slept together once and that was the night before he'd gone into surgery. In shock Alex had gotten in touch with a local doctor and had John drop her off, under the guise of needing to get a script for Randy. The doctor had confirmed the test and it was official, Alex was going to have a baby. She didn't want to say anything to Randy, not because she was scared, though she was, but because he was working so hard to get his shoulder better. Alex was worried that if she told him everything would change and that it might affect his recovery.

With Ashley breaking the news to John about her own pregnancy Alex had made the split decision to tell Randy about her own, after all she was four months along and beginning to get a slight belly.

"I don't care about the dice, are you trying to tell me something? I mean I may have my stupid moments, but I'm not stupid!" Randy asked frustrated and Alex felt her heart beat a million times faster. It was a now or never, and it wouldn't take long for Randy to notice the growing bulge. The last few months Alex had managed to squish her fears, the nagging thoughts she had in regards to their relationship, but at that moment they all came crashing back. By the time she opened her mouth to tell him the news she was certain that Randy was going to leave her,

"Oh yeah, I'm pregnant?" Randy's eyes widened and in seemingly slow motion he began to tip backwards.

In the shower upstairs John heard a loud crash followed by a string of expletives, he was already half way down the stairs before he had his towel wrapped firmly around his waist. Ashley, switching into therapist mode had jumped up the second she heard the crash, she was already at the bottom of the stairs as John had reached the top. However, the two reached Randy's bedroom at the same time to find Randy on the floor grasping his shoulder and swearing the house down.

"What did you do this time?" John asked rushing to the aide of his friend,

"Fell off the bed!" Randy explained through expletives.

"Not exactly the smartest thing to do," Ashley responded hanging back momentarily, but wanting to check on the man's shoulder,

"Lexi, I thought you two were going to play a peaceful quiet game?" John scolded playfully.

"It's all his doing; I was sitting over here the whole time!" Alex responded throwing her hands up, she was trying to keep a playful attitude, but was freaking out slightly,

"Hello, injured here! HELP!" Randy cried out pitifully.

"Let's go into the spare room and I'll take a look at your shoulder," Ashley said directing Randy out of the room.

"So, what happened?" John asked when Alex and he were left,

"I told him I'm pregnant," Alex shrugged, Randy was bound to tell John sooner or later so she might as well do it for him,

"Yeah right, pull the other one," John replied beginning to help Alex pack up the monopoly board. John realized that Randy would have told his girlfriend that Ashley was pregnant so now she was just trying to pull his leg.

"John, I'm serious I'm pregnant," Alex responded looking down. She'd made the decision she was going to keep the baby yet couldn't help feel like it was a bad idea. John was like her annoying big brother at home and she couldn't help but feel slightly intimidated by him.

John looked at Alex and seeing the sad yet serious look on her face he realized that she was telling the truth, beside she never called him John, it was always either Johnny or Cena, never John. The game piece he'd been holding dropped on the board bouncing slightly before falling off the bed and landing on the floor. He didn't know what to say, a million thoughts ran through his mind. Both he and his best friend had been careless and were now facing fatherhood. While the prospect excited and frightened him, John was worried about Randy; he'd faced this situation before only to have his world come crashing down.

"I told you, you're fine you didn't do any damage. Stop being such a big baby!" Ashley said coming back in the room being followed by Randy who now had an ice pack strapped to his shoulder,

"But, it hurts,"

"Of course it does, you feel off the bed! That's your fault,"

"Ash, lets go back upstairs. I think these two need to talk,"

"Thank goodness, I thought you were never going to leave! Seriously Cena if that towel gets any lower I'm going to be in therapy the rest of my life, if I'm not blinded by your pale ass!" Alex smirked trying the break the tension that was still lingering. Randy and Ashley burst out laughing at Alex's comment, anyone who'd seen the top half of John's body could only imagine how pale it was under the waistline.

"Fine! I'm leaving I know when I'm not wanted!" John pouted playfully, "But I'm taking my girlfriend with me,"

"I thought you knew when you weren't wanted," Ashley quipped back lightheartedly before following John out the room.

Once the couple had left Randy began to pace the room, he had a million thoughts running through his head and couldn't catch one fast enough to make sense of anything. His thoughts kept coming back to Sam, and their baby that never was. If Sam hadn't have miscarried they would have still been together and things would have been very different. But, they lost that baby and it tore them apart. Now Sam was unable to have biological children, but Randy had knocked up the first women he'd cared about since Sam.

He loved Alex, that was for sure, but the concept of another baby was frightening. What if Alex miscarried? What if something went wrong? Randy didn't know if he was strong enough to handle it all a second time, he didn't exactly handle it the first time. But, he loved Alex and out of all the thoughts racing through his head that one stood out. He loved Alex and that was all that mattered, or so he tried to tell himself.

Stopping dead in his tracks Randy turned to look at Alex,

"It's mine?"

"It's yours" Alex responded quietly. Randy's pacing was making her nervous. The first words he'd said were questioning if he was the father, and that disheartened Alex. If Randy was toying with the possibility that he wasn't the father then all hell could break lose.

Alex wanted nothing more than to have this baby and to have Randy help, but she was slowly being convinced that she'd be going it alone in Minnesota, especially after her family found out.

"So, you're what? 4? 5? Months along?" Randy asked working out the one and only time they'd slept together.

"4, 17 weeks," Alex muttered,

"Second trimester," Randy muttered slowly, knowing that while there was still a risk Alex could miscarry she was out of the real danger zone, "we're going to have a baby?" Randy asked looking at his girlfriend,

"Well I am, you're involvement is up to you,"

"We're going to have a baby," Randy smiled, "you and me; we're going to be parents!" Randy laughed grabbing Alex and kissing her. He pushed the nagging thoughts of Sam out of his head deciding that he was going to enjoy the moment; he was going to be a daddy.

"Oh my gosh! We've got so much we have to plan. Do you know the gender?"

"I find out this week," Alex replied in shock at the man's sudden attitude change, "When you have physical therapy,"

"No, no that can't do! I want to come; I want to see my baby! It'll be a girl, I just know it!" Randy rushed out, "I'll change my appointment and we can go together!" Randy started pacing again but this time it was an excited rush, he was going all over the place planning a million things in his mind still trying to push down those negative thoughts.

"What if I don't want you there?" Alex asked slightly overwhelmed.

Randy stopped dead in his tracks, he didn't think of the possibility of Alex not wanting him to be involved. He figured this would make their relationship stronger, take it to another step and there was no doubt in his mind that they would raise this baby together, the only question was where?

"You don't want me there?"

"I don't want you to come if you're not going to be involved in raising it,"

"Of course, I'm going to be involved. Why wouldn't I? There is no doubt in my mind that we're raising this baby together. I love you and I thought that you loved me, why should this change that?" Randy asked.

Randy had always been fairly open with his feelings, it was the only way he could cope and the lack of alcohol made it even harder to hide them. He told Alex the way he felt the day after she'd arrived at John's, but had not mentioned it again up until a month or two ago when he'd discovered that Alex felt the exact same way. They were two hopeless people completely and utterly in love with each other.

"I do love you," Alex muttered, "But, this is a baby! Babies change everything and we didn't exactly plan this. I thought we were going to take things slowly,"

"Well things just went into fast forward," Randy replied sitting down next to his girlfriend, "and it should make us closer, not tear us apart. It's going to be one crazy-ass ride, but if we're together we can do it, so I'm willing to try if you are,"

"Yeah, I'm willing," Alex smiled at her boyfriend as he lent in and kissed her. Sinking into the kiss Alex thought that Randy was right, it was going to be a crazy-ass ride, but together it would all work out.

The next day Alex received a phone call from her family, they called every now and then always asking the same questions, where had she gone and when was she going to be back? Depending on who rang Alex was also probed for information about her mysterious boyfriend who had the same name as Alex's favorite wrestler.

"Hey Mom," Alex smiled as she answered the phone, for once she was actually in a mood to speak to her mother.

"Hey Alex, how are you?"

"I'm really good, how are you?"

"I'm well. We got mail from the U of M for you yesterday," Her mother said, causing Alex's heart to sink. She was meant to have started her online studies just over a month ago, but with the pregnancy and Randy's recovery she just hadn't gotten around to it. All her school work was sitting at her parent's house waiting for an address to know where to send it. Alex woke up everyday with the intention of contacting her school and asking them to send it again to John's address but everyday something came up.

"You want to read it to me?" Alex sighed deciding to take some responsibility for a change. She listened as her mother read the letter out loud. Alex felt the flutter in her stomach and her baby kicked, she'd had the opportunity in the past to discover her baby's gender but had wanted to wait until she told Randy. Now she was trying to work out what she would do about her studies with a baby on the way, and Randy's recovery taking painfully long. The letter said that if Alex did not contact the school within seven days they would terminate her studies and she would lose her payment, something that her dad had kindly dealt with.

"Thanks, I'll call them today," Alex sighed once her mother reached the end of the letter.

"What's happening with your studies darling?"

"It's just been crazy, Randy's been injured so I've had to be helping him and things just got away from me,"

"I wish you'd tell me more about the Randy fellow," Alex's mother sighed, "When are you coming home?"

"Well Randy and I were talking about that last night. Randy's mum spent a month here after his surgery so we thought we'd come for Christmas. Besides, for some strange reason he wants to meet you guys, but then he is kind of a strange one," Alex smiled watching her boyfriend come out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. Randy stuck his tongue out at his girlfriend before searching for clothes.

"Really?" Alex's mother asked nervously,

"Yeah, look mom I've got to go, Randy and I are going out," Alex said feeling slightly guilty about the shortened phone call, "I love you"

"I love you too," Alex mother replied and Alex could nearly hear her smile. She ended the call and decided to discuss her schooling with Randy before making the call to her university.

Once it was discussed it was decided that Alex would at least try to continue her studies. Randy admitted that back in his school days he had a 4.0 GPA and would be able to help her. If she couldn't handle things when the baby came along then perhaps she could defer for a couple of years. But, her getting an education was important,

"I'm beginning to regret not staying in school, if my shoulder doesn't get better and I can't wrestle again I'm going to have a family to support and no way to support them. People want education now and I just don't have it. You get yours while you can," Randy explained trying to think responsibly. They loved joking around and having a great time but with babies on the horizon they were coming to a point where they had to start thinking and acting like adults.

Randy was doing well pushing the thoughts of Sam and their baby out of his head. He was trying to focus on him and Alex. Randy kept telling himself he'd said goodbye to his past, he'd moved on, but things came crushing down when he joined Alex at her ultra-sound. The doctor directed Randy where he saw a perfectly healthy baby boy, just like he'd seen when Sam was pregnant. Randy couldn't find the words to say, he was in awe yet his heart was breaking.

When they got back to John's Randy was close to a mess, he could have sworn that he had said goodbye that he'd dealt with his past but he couldn't figure out why it hurt so much knowing that Alex was going to have a son.

"Randy, what's wrong?" Alex asked noticing the sudden change in her boyfriend.

"It's complicated," Randy muttered, "I think I need to go away,"

"To the cabin?" Alex asked her heart dropping. She was certain that Randy was going to run, he was going to freak out and run away, the concept of the baby was one thing but actually seeing it was completely different.

"Yeah, I'll be back I promise," Randy said feeling guilty that he was going to leave Alex,

"Is this to do with Sam?" Alex asked, taking a stab in the dark.

"I'll be honest with you, yeah it is. I've got to go deal with something before I can deal with this baby," Randy replied, he was shaking and clearly upset.

Alex realized that whether Randy was going to come back or not didn't matter she loved him and this was clearly something that her boyfriend had to deal with.

"I'll be back, I swear, and when I get back I'll explain everything" Randy replied kissing his girlfriend lightly, trying to offer her some reassurance.

"It's okay. You and John have a good time, take as long as you need. I might invite Ashley to stay," Alex smirked slightly knowing that Randy and John always freaked out when the two of them spent time together.

"Maybe, we should stay then," John joked. He'd heard most of the conversation and realized something was up when the two had returned from the doctors.

An hour later Ashley and Alex found themselves alone in John's house,

"DDR?" Alex smiled,

"DDR!"


	21. Chapter 21

"You know, there is this amazing invention," John smirked at his friend as they drove out to the cabin, "it's called a condom". Randy glared at his friend yet did not say a word, unsure of what would come out of his mouth; pure anger or frightened sobs. His friend didn't understand what was going on, Randy didn't understand himself.

When they reached the cabin Randy tried to find the words to make sense of how he was feeling inside, the fear, excitement, and the guilt. In the end Randy turned on the TV and flopped down in his chair.

"ARGH!" He cried standing up again and beginning to pace,

"For crying out loud would you just stand still and tell me what the hell is going on?" John asked getting agitated at his friend, he'd been doing the same thing for the last three hours and it was driving him insane.

"If I could I would have told you by now!"

"It's about Sam and the baby right?" John asked trying to help his friend, "the one you guys lost".

"Yeah, I thought I'd said goodbye, I was ready to move on. But, it's freaking me out. Alex is having a boy; it's just the same as Sam. I don't want history to repeat itself and I don't know what I'd do without Alex. I can't go through this again," Randy finally got out.

Randy flopped down in his chair and looked over at John, his eyes stung with hot tears and he just let them fall. While he was struggling with his wording his tears showed what he couldn't say. John related to Randy a little, he was petrified of losing Ashley and/or the baby, but he had no idea what it would do to him. He'd seen what happened to Randy when Sam had miscarried, but that was only witnessing, he definitely didn't want to experience it first hand.

"I don't have the words or the way to make everything better. But, the past is the past, take it and learn from it and don't lose what you have now. Women miscarry, it's something that happens on a daily basis, but Alex is past that crucial 12 week mark, and what happened to Sam was a rarity," John hoped that his words would bring comfort. Not knowing what else to do he let Randy cry, he didn't leave but didn't offer any physical comfort, he just stayed nearby. This was something that Randy had to work out for himself.

John had needed time to comprehend that he was going to be a father; Randy needed time to realize that it was going to be alright and he didn't need to feel guilty for the past. All John could do was be there for him and let the man work it out in his own time.

"Hey," Randy asked while battling it out on Guitar hero, "How long have you been on injury leave?"

"Umm… Just about seven months," John replied focusing on the screen. John was clearly better as Randy still had limited mobility, but they enjoyed the game none the less.

"And how long do you have left?"

"Until I get the all clear I guess," John shrugged. It was no secret that the main reason John was still on leave was to help Randy, but there had to be a time when the Powers-That-Be begin to get suspicious and expect John back at work.

"When will that be?"

"I don't know, I guess I could probably go back now… Then try to get time off when the baby is born. With everything going on work just seems like another hassle, it'd be easier if we could just stay in one place," John replied finishing the song on 92% accuracy while Randy had only gotten 75%.

Randy related to John's feelings. When Randy had found out that Sam was pregnant travelling all the time was the last thing he wanted to do, but work was work and they had to put food on the table someway.

"I've had some communication about going back. I'm wanted back in the ring the moment I get my 100%. Thinking about it, I should probably talk to Ashley and get my butt into gear, otherwise I'll find myself returning when the baby comes," John sighed taking a drink, "I just don't want to be away from Ashley all the time. I want to ask her to move in, but the place is a mad house already,"

"She pretty much lives with us anyway," Randy replied. He'd had all the same feelings when Sam got pregnant, except his best friend and best friend's girlfriend weren't living with them, "Alex and I will be there, which will mean she won't be doing it all alone" Randy offered the support. The trip was meant to be about him, but he'd conveniently turned, at least part of it, to being about John.

"Speaking of Ashley, I might go call her, have you called Alex yet?" John asked, they'd been at the cabin for three days already and he had the feeling that Randy hadn't called his girlfriend once, "She's probably freaking out," John said noting to the look on his friend's face,

"Yeah, yeah… I'll call her," Randy muttered pulling out his phone to call his girlfriend. His heart began to beat a million times faster, he was petrified that he'd call and she would have miscarried or something worse,

"Alex here," Alex answered sleepily after John had seen Randy staring at the number and pressed the send button for him before guiding the phone to his friend's ear.

"Ah… Hi, it's ah Randy," Randy muttered, his mouth suddenly dry,

"So, you're still alive,"

"Yea, sorry I haven't rung. I… I… was scared. I love you," Randy muttered, "I'll be home tonight," he announced realizing that no matter how scared he was, he loved Alex and that really was all that mattered. He'd never felt the same way about anyone, not even his feelings for Sam could compare to the way he felt about Alex. If he kept looking at the negative he'd lose the positive that was right in front of him, an amazing woman and a baby on the way.

Randy ended the call with Alex and went into John's room,

"Come on, we've got to get home," he announced,

"Dude, on the phone, and it's like 10pm we won't get back until well after midnight," Randy walked over said goodbye to Ashley and hung up.

"We've got to go back! I just realized something,"

"Fine, fine, get your crap. If you're going to make me drive all the way back this late at night and in this weather we're leaving in 10 minutes," John muttered.

John reversed out of the driveway 20 minutes later cursing as he felt the tires spin in the mud. Fall had well and truly arrived as had the rain, it was pouring and John could barely see the headlights. Any smart person would have turned back and waited for the weather to subside, but Randy had finally come to a realization, whatever it was, and needed to see Alex before he lost it again. For that John would sacrifice a warm and dry bed.

Half way home the rain began to ease and John looked over at his friend who'd been silent most of the trip, Randy was sound asleep,

"Oh no, you don't bucko!" John muttered, rules for driving to the cabin were the same as driving to a new town; shot-gun had to stay awake.

Smirking John swerved to the side of the road, where the bumps designed to wake up tired drivers let out an awful noise, upon hearing this John slammed on the breaks and the horn swearing loudly,

"Huh? What? I'm awake!" Randy jumped in his seat in shock, quickly realizing that his friend was just attempting to wake him up,

"You fell asleep,"

"Did not,"

"Did too,"

"Did not! I was just resting my eyes," Randy pouted defiantly. John rolled his eyes and kept driving,

"Keep me awake!"

They arrived back at John's just after 3am, and were greeted to darkness when they opened the door. However, there was a faint glow coming from Randy's room and the upstairs hall light was on.

"Ashley's here," Randy acknowledged the hall light knowing that it would only be on if Ashley was around,

"Yeah, and probably asleep," John replied heading up to his room without saying another word. Randy headed to his own room and found his girlfriend hugging his pillow sound asleep. Quietly he crawled into bed gently taking his pillow back replacing it with himself.

Randy woke up around 10am to an empty room, and hearing voices in the kitchen he quickly realized that he was hungry. Getting up and wandering into the kitchen the smell of bacon and eggs hit him,

"Smells good," he smiled at his girlfriend, who was standing in front of the stove,

"It wakes, I drive 5 friggen hours in the pouring rain because you desperately had to talk to Alex and I wake up to find out that you simply fell asleep, you got some explaining to do boy!" John growled,

"Lex, was asleep when I got in, I couldn't wake her," Randy replied sheepishly. He wanted to give his girlfriend a kiss but the look on her face told him that they needed to talk before he initiated any physical contact, "Did you talk to Ashley?" Randy asked trying to one up his friend,

"She was asleep and I didn't need to! I actually have a good relationship with my girlfriend," John replied getting riled up, allowing his annoyance to take control.

"I have a great relationship with my girlfriend thank you very much!"

"Whatever, you two have broken up more times that Taker has won at 'Mania,"

"At least I don't run away when my girlfriend tells me she's pregnant," Randy replied deciding to pick a fight with John,

"Screw you Orton!" John mused not wanting to take the fight further, it wasn't worth it. If John continued the fight one of two things would happen; it would get physical or someone would say something they'd regret.

"Breakfast is served!" Ashley announced stepping between the two men as Alex placed the food on the table. The group ate in relative silence, only Ashley and Alex kept up conversation discussing what they were going to need to do to prepare for the babies. While Alex was excited the conversation made her slightly nervous, Randy still hadn't explained anything and she was certain that he was going to end things.

After breakfast Randy took Alex out, they needed some alone time and a place where he could tell her what was going on. Besides, if they found a coffee shop or somewhere equally public there was no way that Alex could make a scene and that calmed Randy. Telling Alex about Sam and the baby was going to be the hardest thing Randy ever did, admitting his past to his future was petrifying, but he knew it needed to be done.

They found a Starbucks that was relatively empty; it was Monday so everybody was at work. After ordering drinks they sat down and Randy began to talk,

"I guess I've got some explaining to do," he muttered into his coffee,

"You could definitely say that," Alex responded coldly.

"I can explain," Randy insisted,

"Well, I'm waiting,"

"I love you," Randy responded his heart racing a million times too fast,

"That's not an explanation," Alex replied feeling sad,

"You're right," Randy replied and after stuttering a few times he finally found the words he wanted to say.

Randy kept his hands firmly around his coffee cup, staring down into the lid as if he had a script in his coffee. He told her everything, bit by bit the truth came out, about Sam and about the baby and how losing the baby led him to drink and losing Sam led him to the drugs.

Randy explained how everyone had blamed him for the miscarriage, well the important people did, his dad, Sam and himself. And he explained how without knowing it Alex had led him to realize the miscarriage wasn't his fault, but the thought of another baby absolutely petrified him. That's why he'd run, he was scared of what would happen if Alex lost the baby like Sam had, he was scared that he'd lose Alex and he couldn't face that. Then Randy explained that he realized that despite everything, no matter what happened, he loved Alex and he wanted a future with her and together they could work it out. By the time he'd finished his coffee was cold and he had tears rolling down his face, Randy felt like a complete fool.

Randy felt a hand against his own and another wiping the tears from his face, he looked up and there was Alex, she was still there,

"Life happens," she whispered, "it beats the hell out of us and all we can do is stand up and try again, you can't change your past, it's going to be with you until you die! But you can learn from it, you can make sure you don't repeat your mistakes. You said you're scared, I'm petrified! I'm barely trusted with my nephews, how the heck am I meant to raise a kid? At the end of the day I can't just pawn them off on someone else and they're going to be learning from me, watching me! Yet, while the thought of raising a kid petrifies me the concept of losing the baby is even worse, I can't even think about it. But, it's a risk I've got to take. It's time to cut the crap, are you going to take the risk or run away like you've run from everything else?" Alex finished offering her partner an ultimatum, she understood that Randy was scared but couldn't handle it if he kept running off trying to figure things out, she couldn't deal with not knowing if he'd ever come back.

"I'm tired of running," Randy replied quietly, "So, I guess you're stuck with me," he smiled.

"Good, so does that mean we can go back to having fun and stop all this deep and dark?"

"Definitely," Randy smiled again leaning over and kissing his girlfriend.

"Thank goodness! This responsible adult thing sucks!"


	22. Chapter 22

While Alex and Randy were sorting out their future Ashley had her 6 month check up, her first check up since telling John about the baby. Like Alex, Ashley had held off finding out the baby's sex until she'd told John, she was afraid, acknowledging the gender meant that she was really going to have a baby.

Like Randy, John insisted on coming to the appointment. Ashley had expected nothing less from the man and breathed a sigh of relief when he confirmed his desire. Lying on the table in the doctor's office Ashley didn't know whose hand was gripping tighter and she realized that John was still scared, but she was confident that he wasn't going to run again.

"It looks like you're going to be welcoming a healthy little girl to the world," The doctor smiled at his patient barely acknowledging John. Ashley had never told Dr. Fischer about John, he'd assumed that she was going to be a single parent.

"She's beautiful," John whispered being able to clearly make out the shape of his daughter in the ultra-sound, "just like you," he lent down kissing Ashley lightly. Dr. Fischer couldn't help, but scowl, he thought Ashley was beautiful and he would treat her better than this John fellow ever could well, at least he thought so.

Dr. Fischer had just been biding his time, waiting until the baby was born, to make his move. After all, Ashley had never mentioned having a partner, never mentioned the baby's father. Handing Ashley a tissue and wiping the gel off the monitor Dr. Fischer sighed, he'd silently laid claim to Ashley but watching the way she looked at John he realized that she loved him and it was only fair that a baby grow up with its father.

"I don't like him," John growled pulling out of the parking lot.

"Who?" Ashley asked,

"That doctor of yours,"

"Why not?"

"He was all over you! Rubbing that monitor all over your stomach," John replied jealously.

"Well he kind of needs to if we want to see the baby,"

"Not like that! And the way he was looking at you!"

"You're just jealous!" Ashley replied exasperated, she found John's response hilarious, but was flattered at the same time.

"I wouldn't be so jealous if you weren't so attractive! All those guys after you, first Karl now this… this Dr. Fish-head or whatever his name is,"

"Dr. Fischer and I think you're being a bit over the top aren't you?"

"No, I think you should change doctors, to a female. Besides, what sort of weirdo becomes an OBYGN?"

"You told me last night that when you were a boy you wanted to be one," Ashley couldn't help but laugh,

"My point exactly!" John announced pulling into the driveway. He got out of the car and walked around to open Ashley's door, as she got out of the car he wrapped his arms around her, "besides you're all mine!" he replied smiling,

"And you're all mine, my big jealous weirdo!" Ashley responded resting against John and giving him a kiss.

"Gah! Would you two please get a room!" Randy interrupted the two as he and Alex returned from Starbucks,

"We have a whole house,"

"Then go there!" Randy muttered pushing between the two, holding tight to Alex's hand,

"Sorry," Alex muttered rolling her eyes.

"You know," John replied taking Ashley in his arms once more, "Lex has a female doctor… Maybe you could talk to her about getting an appointment,"

"I like Dr. Fischer,"

"But, no man should be dealing with that area, especially when it comes to my girlfriend,"

"John," Ashley said firmly, "you are being ridiculous," she kissed her boyfriend again, "now why don't we take Randy's suggestion and go back to my place," she winked.

"But, we're already at my place… Why do we need to go to yours?" John pouted,

"Well, we can stay here and listen to Dall screw Lex or we can go back to my house and have fun of our own,"

"Huh?" John asked confused, Ashley reached up on tippy toes and whispered her intentions in his ear and John was in the car faster than a dog on heat, he reversed out and was half way to Ashley's house when he realized that Ashley wasn't in the car with him.

"CRAP!" John swore before throwing a dangerously fast U-Turn and returning to his house to collect his girlfriend, "you know," John started as his girlfriend got in the car, "we could make this a whole lot easier by having just one house,"

"But, then we wouldn't be able to run off for privacy," Ashley smirked, she knew exactly what John was asking and she was petrified. The only thing Ashley wanted more than to live with John was to marry him, but they'd only been dating for a short time and Ashley didn't want to move if John was going to realize that he'd made a stupid mistake.

"We could just kick Dall and Alex out,"

"And leave them on the street?"

"Or give them your place,"

"Who says we'd move into YOUR place?" Ashley said defiantly, the obvious answer would be that they'd move into John's place, it was much bigger than hers.

"Logic, my house has much more room to raise a football team of ankle biters in,"

"A football team?" Ashley asked eyes widening, she was still trying to comprehend being responsible for one life let alone a football team of them.

"Yeah, that little miss needs a football team of brothers to keep an eye on her!" John replied already becoming over protective of his daughter.

John pulled into Ashley's driveway and pressed the buzzer to open her garage door,

"I'm not sure this is a wise idea," Ashley said nervously. She was half joking, knowing very well that John couldn't get her any more pregnant than she already was.

"Why not?"

"Well, if you want a football team of kids…"

"What? I can get your pregnant when you're already pregnant?" John asked in shock causing Ashley to hit herself in the head in disbelief.

"Come on you jealous, idiotic weirdo!" Ashley smirked grabbing John by the collar and leading him into the house.

As night began to fall Randy and Alex found themselves curled up in bed watching a movie, at some point during the afternoon they'd woken up and lazily turned on the TV, not eager to exert any more energy than they already had.

"I'm hungry," Alex muttered curling closer into Randy; she'd been snuggled against him most of the afternoon, but suddenly she couldn't get close enough. His smell was intoxicating and Alex just couldn't get enough.

"Me to," replied Randy barely awake. As his girlfriend snuggled closer into his bare chest Randy held her tighter. As long as Alex was snuggled against him Randy was more than willing to starve, Alex was all he needed.

Randy ran his hands down Alex's naked back, her skin was like silk and looking down at her Randy couldn't help but smile. He lazily moved his hand down and rested it on Alex's swollen belly. This was the way it was meant to be, him, Alex and a little one on the way. Randy glanced down once again and noticed that Alex had dozed off. Randy finally felt at peace yet there was one thing missing. Gently Randy reached beside him and grabbed his cell phone,

"Good evening Munchkin," his mother answered the phone on the second ring,

"Hey mom, is dad home?" Randy asked, he was nervous, but it was time to mend bridges.

"He's doing something right now, but can come to the phone in a moment. How is Alex?" Elaine asked gently,

"She's alright; she's sleeping beside me at the moment,"

"This early?"

"Yeah, we've been running crazy lately so we've had a lazy afternoon," Randy lied slightly,

"Oh alright dear, well your father is here now. I love you Munchkin," Elaine replied not at all fooled by her son's response,

"Love you mom," Randy sighed rolling his eyes at the nickname.

"What do you want this time?" Bob Orton asked gruffly,

"Hey dad," Randy replied, his confidence suddenly shot, "I've been doing a lot of thinking the last couple of months…"

"Well that's a first,"

"… and I think you and I need to talk," Randy continued ignoring his father's comment,

"Then talk,"

"No, we need to actually talk, you know face to face. We're going to Minnesota for Christmas and I thought that we could come via you guys…" Randy continued offering to meet his father where he's at.

"Who, is we?" Bob asked distantly,

"Alex and I,"

"And who is Alex?" Bob asked, Elaine had told Bob about their son's relationship, but of course the man had more important things to worry about.

"My girlfriend,"

"Alex is a guy's name," Bob grunted the same response that he'd given Elaine months before.

"It's short for Alexandria," Randy shrugged tucking the phone under his ear and pulling Alex closer,

"Hmm, Missouri isn't exactly on the direct route to Minnesota,"

"Dad, work with me would you? We're willing to come out of our way to talk to you," Randy sighed, trying not to lose his temper at his stubborn father,

"Why should I?" The man muttered, "When are you planning to come?" he asked his son,

"Well we're expected at Alex's on the 23rd of December, so why don't we arrive on the 15th?"

"I suppose that would work,"

"And don't worry we'll stay at my place, but if mom could pick us up at the airport that would be great," Randy rushed out nervously,

"You'll have to discuss that with your mother. I need to go, goodbye,"

"Love you dad,"

"Hmm, love you," Bob muttered before hanging up the phone.

"You are an amazing man," Alex whispered running her hand across Randy's chest,

"How long have you been awake?" Randy asked locking eyes with his girlfriend.

"Since about 'hey dad'," Alex lent up kissing her boyfriend slightly.

Randy hadn't realized that his girlfriend had been awake his entire conversation with his dad, Randy didn't want Alex to know that he was taking steps to reconcile his relationship with his father. Just a little matter, but the feud was from his past and he didn't want to bring his future into it.

Randy sighed and felt the instant coolness as Alex pulled away, smiling he watched Alex open a drawer before pulling out one of his promotional t-shirts and putting it on.

"Where are you going?" Randy asked trying to get his breath back, just looking at Alex was enough to take it away.

"To organize dinner, Chinese?"

"Sounds good, are you paying?" Randy smiled joking around with his girlfriend,

"In your dreams! I've already memorized your credit card number," Alex smiled,

"I wouldn't expect any less," Randy replied quickly, "I'll have the Mongolian Beef thanks sweetie, my wallet is in the jeans on the bathroom floor,"

"You really need to do some laundry," Alex called from the bathroom,

"That's what you're here for, to get me dinner and do my laundry," Randy smirked.

"Once again, in your dreams!"

Alex ordered their Chinese yet made Randy answer the door when it was delivered, and the two settled down in front of the TV for the night.

The next morning Alex was woken by her cell phone ringing,

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Her family shouted as she sleepily answered the phone.

"Gah, don't remind me!" Alex muttered,

"So, what are you doing today?" Alex's mother asked,

"Not much, Randy has physical therapy but other than that we've got nothing planned,"

"You're not doing anything for your birthday?"

"Nope," Alex replied hesitantly, out of all the things she had shared with Randy the date of her birth was not one of them. She hated the concept of growing older and now she couldn't deny it, this birthday bought her officially into her mid-twenties. The day she was about to face would make her 24; she wished she could just ignore it.

"You didn't tell him did you?" Alex's mum pushed picking up on her daughter's hesitation.

"What I tell or don't tell my boyfriend is up to me," Alex replied getting annoyed.

"I put $200 in your account for your birthday"

Alex heard the bedroom door open and looked up to lock eyes with her boyfriend, who was carrying a tray with coffee and scrambled eggs,

"Ah thanks, mom I've got to go, love you," Alex muttered before hanging up,

"So, what aren't you telling your boyfriend?" Randy asking placing the tray on Alex's lap,

"Uh, nothing,"

"Aha, and this nothing wouldn't have anything to do with someone's 24th birthday being today?"

"How did you know?" Alex asked shocked that Randy knew about the day she was trying to avoid,

"Never make a guy hold your purse, he's going to snoop," Randy smiled kissing Alex gently.

"Note to self: NEVER give a guy your purse!" Alex muttered before glaring at Randy, "I hate you, no I despise you!"

"There is nothing wrong with growing older," Randy smiled sitting on the bed; he lent across Alex and took the fork off her tray stealing some of her scrambled eggs. Randy had long come to terms with the idea of growing old.

"Whatever, next year I'll be a quarter of a century old!"

"Darling I reached that mark 3 years ago,"

"Yeah, well men get to grow old elegantly! Women just get old and wrinkly," Alex complained grabbing Randy's hand and directing the fork to her mouth.

"Men do not grow old elegantly we get distinguished. And I'll still love you when your old and wrinkly" Randy smiled kissing Alex, "not that you could ever get wrinkly, you'll always be beautiful to me". Alex rolled her eyes; Randy could be a real sap sometimes but, deep down his comments were making her feel better. Randy had the power to save Alex's world, and was even making her 24th birthday seem less like the day from hell. So, what if she was a year off being a quarter of a century old, Randy was going to make the day a million times better.

Alex pouted as they ate breakfast in silence. Randy managed to eat more of the meal than Alex but, she was okay with that. Scrambled eggs were something that she could only eat occasionally and with the pregnancy it was something that was becoming less and less desirable. Once the food was eaten Randy removed the tray and leant down beside the bed and pulled up holding a wrapped box,

"What's that?" Alex asked attempting to hide her excitement,

"Well, I bought it because the woman I love is having a birthday today but, since she doesn't want to acknowledge it; I guess I'll have to return it" Randy smirked teasing Alex.

"Or you could just give it to me," Alex smiled,

"Sounds like a plan. Just don't tell the woman I love," Randy winked handing over the present.

Slowly Alex unwrapped the present to reveal the complete series of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Alex's jaw dropped in shock,

"Happy Birthday, there'll be more later but, why don't you go have a shower while I clean up," Randy smiled sending his girlfriend to the shower with a kiss.


	23. Chapter 23

Waking up John smiled at the woman in his arms, her head rested in the crook of his shoulder and he felt each breath lightly against his chest. He let out an unintentional heavy sigh, realizing that he needed to talk to his girlfriend, the mother of his unborn child, about returning to work.

"Hey," Ashley looked up sleepily,

"Hey, sorry I didn't mean to wake you," John muttered,

"It's okay, what's wrong," Ashley asked noting her boyfriend's gloomy demeanor.

"Not much, just thinking,"

"That's a worry," Ashley smiled feeling the tension rising, "John something's up, what's wrong?" Ashley asked getting nervous. This was it, she was certain, John had realized that this relationship was a mistake and was going to end it; he was just concerned about his kid,

"Work keeps calling," John sighed heavily. He didn't want to have to bring the topic up; he didn't want to go back to work, butknew that he had to. When he'd seen the fear in Ashley's eyes he realized that she thought he was going to break up with her and decided to be completely honest, "Survivor Series is next week and well they want me there. Cause interference, raise hell and start a feud for Wrestlemania. They say if I go back now they'll feign me an injury, give me two months off when the baby is born,"

"You say that like you are asking my permission," Ashley commented once more letting her hard shell cover her scared interior.

"If you don't want me to go back, I won't" John replied earnestly, more than willing to accept any excuse that Ashley might give him not to return.

Ashley looked at her boyfriend momentarily and realized that he was in fact asking her permission,

"Why should it matter what I want?"

"Ash, don't start that," John sighed, he knew about Ashley's insecurities and that most of her hard exterior was because of them, "what you want is extremely important. You and the baby are my life now; I need to put your best interests first. This isn't a decision I can make alone". Ashley thought a moment, she realized that John was speaking the truth and was finally starting to see that he really loved her,

"What do you want?" Ashley finally asked,

"Honestly? I want to stay with you, butI don't know how realistic that is. If I don't go back now there is a chance I'll be forced to go back when our little girl is born and I won't get to spend anytime with her. Plus, you won't be working much longer and although I'm getting injury pay, it's nothing compared to what I get when I'm on the road. The money I can make in a couple of months on the road will mean we can prepare for the baby," John explained,

"So, you're saying…"

"I should probably go back on the road but, I don't want to," John pouted slightly. Ashley sat up and turned to face her partner,

"I don't want you to either…"

"I won't then," Ashley took John's hands knowing that while she might not want him to leave he made some good points,

"But, it's best for us if you do,"

"I'll call work later today," John sighed kissing his girlfriend.

They'd discussed work and there was only one thing left to discuss. John wanted Ashley to move in with him, butwhen he'd toyed with the idea the day before Ashley had been quick to turn it into a joke and change the subject. This time John wasn't going to let her change the topic; he needed an answer, whether it is a yes or no.

"You still look perplexed," Ashley said after a moment,

"Huh?" John asked raising an eyebrow,

"Confounded… Bewildered… Okay, you've spent way too much time with Randy. You look confused,"

"Ah, just thinking,"

"Still?"

"Yeah, there is one more thing on my mind," John sighed turning to completely face his girlfriend, "we need to think about how we're going to raise our little girl, personally I think she should be raised with both her parents, in the same house,"

"John…"

"Ash, move in with me, please?"

"John…" Ashley tried to find the words to say that he was making a mistake, but they just wouldn't come.

"What are you afraid of?" John asked. Ashley looked at him and felt tears in her eyes; she silently cursed her hormones and turned away unable to keep her eyes on the man she loved,

"That you'll change your mind; realize that you've made a mistake, that you don't love me and that you're not ready for all this responsibility," she finally muttered.

"Ash, I'm not going to change my mind, I definitely love you and while 'all this responsibility' scares the living daylights out of me I'm going to face it head on, it's time for me to grow up," John sighed, he wished that things would simply just sort themselves out, butevery couple ended up having serious conversations when children were on the horizon.

"Ashley, it'll be okay, I'll do anything to get you to move in with me. You can re-decorate, re-arrange, re-anything you want! You can even get the basement finished and put the game room and gym down there so the upstairs is a suitable for children,"

"What about the office?" Ashley finally asked,

"Simple, both the gym and game room can be split in half, so feel free to split one of those and turn one half into the office, then use the current office for the baby's room".

"And Randy and Alex?"

"That's up to you but, if you're going to kick them out make sure you give them fair warning, Randy is my best friend and they're going to have to sort stuff out themselves!"

"Can they stay?"

"If you want, if they want! Ashley, will you move in with me?" John asked exasperated

"Yeah, alright,"

"Really?" John asked shocked that the woman actually agreed,

"Sure, why not?" Ashley smiled as John pulled her close and kissed her.

While Ashley was agreeing to move-in with John, Randy was spoiling his own girlfriend. Alex showered andRandy packed a picnic lunch once he'd also showered and dressed, he led Alex to the park. After setting up and settling down to eat Randy pulled an envelope out of the picnic basket and handed it to Alex,

"What's this?"

"Present number 2, for the woman who refuses to admit she's getting older," Randy winked,

"Bite me!"

"If you don't want it I can take it back,"

"No, I'll keep it!" Alex smiled ripping open the envelope and discovering end-zone tickets to the next Patriot's home game, Alex squealed and jumped on her boyfriend, "Dall! I love you".

"I do try," Randy smiled wrapping his arms around his girlfriend and accepting the kisses she showered upon him. He'd spent weeks planning her birthday presents and was glad that they were being accepted so openly. He inwardly smiled as he let go of Alex and pulled another envelope out of his pocket, "if you liked that…" he said handing his girlfriend the envelope, "then wait until you open this one," Alex was confused as she opened the other envelope but, her confusion quickly changed to joy as she realized that Randy had not only bought her tickets to see the Patriots game but, had managed to get her locker room passes to meet both the Patriots and the Colts (the Patriots next opponents).

"DALL!!!" Alex squealed once more showering her boyfriend in kisses.

"You seem way too excited about the prospect of meeting 52 muscle glad men, do I need to buy you a leash?"

"Not if you're with me," Alex responded pushing Randy to the ground kissing him, "though it could make for some fun in the bedroom".

Randy enjoyed the moment but, had to stop himself, they were in a public place and he was trying to change his image, give the WWE and his family something to be proud of.

"Lexi, as much as I am enjoying this we have to stop,"

"Dall…"

"We're in public!" Randy sighed pushing his girlfriend off him slightly; he really didn't want to stop what was happening but, knew that if he didn't, he would reach a point of no return, "Lexi… We… have… to… stop!"

"Fine," Alex pouted sitting up,

"Later, I promise," Randy smiled, sitting back up and pulling food out of the picnic basket. He shrugged slightly carefully rolling his shoulder and attempting to ignore the pain,

"What's for lunch?"

"Chicken caesar Salad, nice and healthy".

Alex and Randy enjoyed their lunch before Randy had to go to physical therapy. The couple had walked back to John's house and Randy put the picnic basket away. They headed to the garage and Alex headed for the car that John was letting them borrow.

"You know, we'd have a lot less problems with borrowing John's car if you used these keys," Randy smirked holding out a set of keys,

"They're not John's keys," Alex responded confused,

"No, they're yours," Randy smiled,

"I'm confused,"

"Look outside," Randy said taking Alex by the hand and directing her outside. Sitting in the driveway was a black with chrome detail, Chevy Silverado Z-71with Extended cab. Alex nearly fainted at the sight of her dream car,

"You certainly know how to go all out don't you?"

"What can I say? This man will do anything for the woman he loves," Randy smiled getting in the passenger's side of the truck he just bought his girlfriend.

At the clinic they met up with John who was dropping off Ashley.

"Nice to see you got my therapist here on time," Randy joked with his friend,

"I do my best. Happy Birthday Lex!" John smiled giving the woman a hug.

"Thanks," Alex pouted still not willing to admit that she was getting older and still not happy that it was her birthday.

"Happy Birthday Alex," Ashley smiled at her friend as she came to the front with Randy's file.

"Thanks, take it easy on my man, he's been good today," she smirked as Randy followed Ashley back.

"Come on Lex, lets get a drink while you wait," John said.

The two found the coffee shop just outside the Physical Therapy center they ordered and while John paid Alex found a seat.

"I'll be right back," John said putting their order number down on the table. John returned a few minutes later with a nicely wrapped box, "Happy Birthday," he said putting the box down in front of Alex,

"What is it?"

"Open it and find out!" John replied rolling his eyes. Alex shrugged and ripped the wrapping off before pulling out what was inside,

"Hmmm… This looks familiar,"

"As seen on TV," John smirked, "Hustle, Loyalty and Respect! The way it should be and much better than that motto of your boyfriend,"

"Umm… Thanks, I can tell it comes from your heart," Alex sighed putting the gift pack; containing a cap, shirt, hoodie and pendent, back in the box.

"Aren't you going to try it on?" John asked,

"Not right now,"

"Aw, why not? I'm sure your boyfriend would love to see it,"

"He's been good today and I don't want to feed his paranoia"

"Paranoia?"

"Yeah, he's freaked out that I'll leave him for you," Alex shrugged,

"Then you should definitely try it on," John smirked trying not to laugh. He found his friend's concern hilarious.

"No, he's been a good boy today," Alex pouted taking a drink.

"Pfft! It'd be more fun to make him paranoid," John muttered before turning to his drink. Alex wasn't willing to play his game but, he stored the information away for later use. John would definitely manipulate Randy with it later.

Alex rolled her eyes before sipping her drink quietly. John and Alex sat in silence drinking; Alex looked slightly forlorned at John's coffee, being pregnant meant that coffee was a strictly no go zone.

"How's the no caffiene working for you?" John smirked seeing the woman's look of longing,

"Bite me," Alex growled in response and John threw his hands up in surrender. John wasn't stupid enough to push matters further, after-all his girlfriend was pregnant as well, and he'd already over-stepped the caffiene mark days duo sat in silence for a while enjoying their drinks. After some time Ashley came out of the physical therapy office and joined them,

"Randy is icing up at the moment Lex," Ashley smiled sitting on John's lap. She kissed him slightly, "hi," She smiled,

"Hey," John smiled back,

"I gotta go back to work, but I knew you'd be out here," Ashley responded kissing John again before pulling away.

"Ash," John said standing up, "I love you,"

"Love you too," Ashley smiled before following Alex back to the office.

Alex smirked, noting the romance between John and Ashley, it was cute and walking to the Physical Therapy office she smiled realizing that she had the same romance with Randy. Randy was lying on the table with his good arm draped lazily across his eyes,

"Hey," Alex smiled sitting down beside him,

"Hmm," Randy muttered, clearly dozing off while waiting for the ice to do its trick.


	24. Chapter 24

After Randy had finished icing, Alex and he headed home,

"Your next present is inside," Randy smiled after reading a text. Randy knew he was taking a big chance on his next gift. He'd heard about the dramas between Alex and her best friend. Jamie had been the reason Alex and Randy had met, the reason Alex had ended up in Randy's hotel room, the reason they'd had the chance to fall in love.

The girls were back on speaking terms, but it was strained and Jamie was always the one initiating the conversations. Randy wanted things to go back to normal with the two girls, or as close to normal as possible. In Mass. Alex knew a total of three people, Randy, John and Ashley. But, Randy wanted Alex to have more people around her, even if it was just via phone call. He didn't want her to end up alone, that's what happened with Sam.

The text Randy had received was John letting him know that Alex's 'present' had arrived and that she was crazier than Alex had been. Randy had called Jamie a month prior to Alex's birthday and offered to pay for an airfare over, he just hadn't told Jamie that his last name was Orton and his friend 'John' who would pick her up from the airport was none other than John Cena.

"I think I'm starting to get used to this birthday thing," Alex started, "especially if it's like this every year," she finished kissing her boyfriend,

"Just wait until you see your next present before saying that," Randy smiled as he saw the front door open; he pointed at the young woman racing towards the car.

"ALEX! Oh My Goodness do you know who picked me up at the airport? JOHN Fricken CENA!" Jamie rushed opening the driver's door,

"Randy…" Alex muttered under her breath before offering her friend a strained smile. Randy knew that Alex wasn't too impressed at seeing her friend, but he was sure that by the end of the week things would be good again.

If things went the way Randy was hoping that by the end of the week Alex and Jamie would remember their friendship and things would be like they used to be.

"Oh My! You're pregnant!" Jamie cried seeing the slight bulge on her friend's stomach,

"Yeah, please don't tell my parents, we're planning to tell them when we're home for Christmas," Alex explained smiling at her friend.

"On one condition… You introduce me to your mystery boyfriend, the one you nicknamed 'Dall'," Alex laughed at her friend's response, surprised she hadn't yet figured out who it was; after all she'd been picked up at the airport by John Cena.

Alex glanced back at the truck to see that Randy had already snuck inside managing to sneak past Jamie. Alex then noticed that the garage door was open and she realized that Randy had gone in there instead of going in the front door.

"I'm surprised you haven't figured it out," Alex muttered,

"What do you mean?" Jamie asked confused, "by the way did you know this house is HUGE?"

"Yes, I've been living here for the better part of the year," Alex rolled her eyes directing Jamie inside.

When they got inside Alex saw John lounging on the couch reading a magazine,

"Hey Lex, you left my present at Physical Therapy, but don't worry Ash will bring it to dinner tonight so you won't miss out on my total awesomeness!" John said not even looking up from his magazine, "by the way, your friend is more of a freak than you!"

"Bite me John!"

"Where and when? Oh wait, wouldn't want to get Dall jealous now would we?" John smirked finally looking up,

"The only reason I'm not castrating you right now is because Ashley would seriously kick my ass,"

"Ooh touchy!" John laughed,

"Ignore him," Alex muttered rolling her eyes and walking towards her room.

"Alex, do you know who you were just bebeing a smart ass too? That was John Fricken Cena!"

"Yeah, and this is his house. He sleeps naked, he is a total pig, and somehow managed to score an awesome girl,"

"You're dating John Cena?" Jamie asked eyes big,

"He wishes! Come on," Alex said walking into her room, she glanced around and noticed that Randy was not in sight and the bathroom door was closed and realized that he was trying to make a show of uncovering who he was to Jamie.

"So, where is this mystery man?" Jamie asked looking around the room,

"Being his usual dorky self, apparently he's planning an 'entrance'," Alex explained loud enough for Randy to hear, suddenly the bathroom door opened and out sulked Randy,

"You ruined it!"

"It's my birthday, I'm allowed to," Alex replied leaning up and kissing Randy slightly. Jamie watched the couple's interaction and nearly fainted,

"You… You…" she attempted to stutter out. Alex turned back to Jamie allowing Randy to wrap his arm around her waist and rest his hand on her pregnant belly, something he loved doing.

"Jamie, I would like you to meet my goof ball boyfriend, Randy Orton, and yes before you ask he is the father," Alex smiled.

Randy stepped forward to shake Jamie's hand only to be stared at completely in shock,

"Lex is she okay? It looks like she broke!"

"Way to go Randy you broke my friend!" Alex rolled her eyes, "no she's fine, she's just being Jamie, leave her there she'll snap out of it shortly," she pulled Randy close kissing him slightly, "though you and I will be having a talk later, not a cool stunt you pulled,"

"Trust me," Randy smiled hugging his girlfriend, "I love you," he whispered.

"Holy crap! My best friend is having Randy Orton's baby and is living in John Cena's house!" Jamie squealed snapping to, "John is totally hot in real life and really funny too,"

"And totally in love with the woman who's having his baby, and seriously if you tried to steal Ashley's man she would kill you," Randy laughed.

"Jamie doesn't even like Cena, she just thinks screwing a wrestler will give her some accolade, that's why she's attempted to screw half the roster," Alex replied rolling her eyes, letting her past hurt get the better of her.

"Yeah, because I'm the one who got knocked up by Orton," Jamie retaliated angrily.

"Heaven forbid I get knocked up by the man I'm living with!" Alex responded sending a death glare towards her boyfriend,

"Jamie, there is a difference between committing yourself to one man, hopefully for the rest of her life, and sleeping with the entire roster. Committing yourself to one man makes you a loyal girlfriend, sleeping with the roster makes you a ring rat. It's your choice what you want to be," Randy said smiling at his girlfriend, a fight wasn't what Randy expected, but he was definitely going to stand up for the woman he loved. Jamie glared at him and walked off.

"Randy…" Alex growled,

"Lex, I know that things are strained between you two, but you need more friends around you and a strong support system, especially when…" Randy said trailing off,

"When what?" Alex asked with a sinking feeling.

"When I go back to work,"

"Work? You're injured!"

"They're offering me a $10,000 bonus to go in disrupt a match at Survivor Series, instigate trouble and leave Cena to clean up my mess,"

"But, your shoulder!" Alex exclaimed petrified about Randy getting hurt again,

"I won't get hurt, I won't touch anyone and they won't touch me if they even try its Johns job to stop them. It's only one show, and maybe a couple of cameos, and its $10,000 we can get everything we need for the baby for that!" Randy explained,

"Were you going to discuss this with me?" Alex asked feeling hurt,

"Isn't that what we're doing now?" Randy asked in typical male fashion.

Alex rolled her eyes and walked away, her birthday had taken a sudden turn and she was ready for the next day to come. It was a lot less complicated when she ignored the day of her birth. Alex was pacing the backyard when Randy came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her stomach,

"Do you not want me to do it?"

"I don't want you to get hurt," Alex muttered quietly and Randy could tell that she had been crying.

"I won't,"

"But, what if you do? What if whoever's match you're disrupting forgets and hurts you? It's happened before!"

"Alex, we can't live in a world of what ifs… I tried and it nearly lost me everything," Randy sighed he dropped his arms and massaged his repaired shoulder gently.

"Yeah, but we have a baby on the way and he's going to want his daddy to play catch with him and getting hurt now could stop that,"

"If you don't want me to do it, I won't" Randy sighed. Alex looked up at her boyfriend; she saw a glimmer in his eyes that she hadn't seen before,

"You want to do it don't you?" She whispered,

"Yea, I want to prove I can do it. My shoulder will be heavily bandaged and I'll be in my sling and you can be there, just to make sure," Randy rushed out excitedly.

"Well… I've always wanted to go to Survivor Series," Alex smiled, "just promise me you won't get hurt," she finished wrapping her arms around her boyfriend.

"I promise," Randy smiled kissing his girlfriend, "I love you,"

"Love you too, you big lug," Alex responded.

"I think someone wants to talk to you," Randy said after a moment turning Alex to face the door where Jamie was standing.

"What do you want?" Alex asked,

"To apologize, it is so cool that you are dating Randy Orton. I would do anything to get a guy like him; he clearly loves you. I guess I'm jealous," Jamie muttered,

"It is okay, it's cool. I mean not everyone gets to date Randy Orton," Alex smiled, "I'm tired, I'm going to take a nap. Make yourself at home, just stay away from John. Randy wasn't joking when he said that Ash would kill you."

Alex walked in the room and lay on the bed. She was exhausted, emotionally and mentally and she was sick of all the deep discussions that had been happening lately. Randy lay on the bed next to Alex and she quickly rolled over against him. Alex smiled slightly, she'd been dating Randy for 6 or 7 months and he had quickly learnt that she loved sleeping against his bare chest.

Alex quickly dosed off while Randy lay there watching his girlfriend. The past 6 months had been an insane journey and he didn't know what to make of things. He knew it would be easier to just walk away and forget the past few months had ever happened, but he couldn't leave and he would definitely never be able to forget. There was something about Alex, the more drama there was the more Randy was drawn to her. They were like to ships lost at sea, drawn to each other. There was something that told Randy that they were meant to be together, no matter what.

Looking down at the woman sleeping against his chest Randy smiled, he was in love and definitely not ashamed to admit it. He had no desire to drown his problems anymore; he wanted to do what was right by Alex and hoped that maybe one day she would become his wife. Randy didn't know what was holding him back from proposing, maybe he was afraid of commitment, maybe he was afraid it was all just a dream and one day he would wake up and find her gone, that his happily ever after never existed.

Somewhere in watching his girlfriend sleep he had also drifted off. When he woke the room was dark and there was an annoying banging, it took Randy a moment to realize that someone was knocking on the door,

"What?" Randy called sleepily.

"Are you guys ready for dinner?" John called, "Reservations are in half an hour,"

"Oh crap! No we fell asleep, you guys go, and we'll meet you there. It's always good for the birthday girl to be fashionably late anyway,"

"Alright, the address is on the table," John called and Randy heard him walk away.

Randy watched his girlfriend a moment longer before rubbing her back,

"Lex, we've got to get up," he whispered,

"Don't want to!" Alex pouted burying herself deeper into Randy's chest.

"I'm sorry, but you've got to! Your friends are expecting you there when they celebrate your birthday,"

"But, birthdays are icky!" Alex muttered,

"Maybe your next present will make you change your mind," Randy smirked pulling a long box from the top drawer in his bedside table. He held it in his hands for a moment before giving it to his girlfriend.

Alex held the box in her hands loosely, she was tired and even the temptation of more goodies couldn't change that,

"Just open it already!" Randy sighed and Alex laughed slightly. She turned the box over a couple of times, just to tease Randy, before finally opening it. Alex gasped slightly as she looked down at the necklace in the box, it was a white gold star outlined with small diamonds.

"It's beautiful," Alex whispered in awe. She had always been more of a Tomboy, that was the way her father had wanted her to be, but Randy had always encouraged her feminine side.

Randy loved the fact that Alex could hit a baseball, throw a football and gut a fish, but he also loved when she dressed up in a little dress that accentuated all of her curves. Randy hoped that his girlfriend would wear a dress like that tonight, but he knew that she was becoming increasingly self-conscious with her growing belly. If he was going to be completely honest, which he strived to be, he thought that the bigger Alex got the hotter she got. There was something about Alex carrying Randy's baby turned him on.

"It's beautiful!" Alex whispered fingering the Star pendent, "I don't know what to say,"

"Thank you always works," Randy responded smirking, "go take a shower and get dressed then I'll put that on for you".

Alex sighed, but got up and headed for the bathroom. Alex smiled slightly; Randy certainly knew how to spoil someone. While she didn't mind if he did this every year Alex would just be happy to spend the day with her husband, if only they were married, and their child. Maybe next year they'd be able to have a quiet day as a family. Alex just hoped that Randy didn't expect her to give him the same treatment, she just couldn't afford it.


	25. Chapter 25

Survivor Series came and went and despite Alex's fears Randy didn't get hurt. In fact the fans went crazy seeing Randy and John. John naturally got dumped with everything Randy did and it quickly led to John main eventing. Ashley moved in to the mad house while John was at work and totally redecorated the place; his reaction had everyone in hysterics. John definitely wasn't used to finding pink in the bathroom.

The next couple of weeks flew by and Randy and Alex soon found themselves heading to the airport, their first stop, Missouri. Randy hadn't slept all week; he was nervous, exhausted and stressed. It was a side of him that Alex had never seen before and it made her slightly nervous, but she wasn't afraid. She was also nervous about the trip.

Randy was jittery on the plane, he wouldn't sit still and Alex was convinced that Randy was responsible for the majority of the turbulence. Alex was grateful when the plane finally touched down; she normally wasn't a fan of turbulence and with being pregnant it felt like her stomach was being thrown all over the place. It took everything she had not to throw up.

"Dall, please stop bouncing!" Alex finally cried putting her hands down on Randy's legs trying to get him to stop bouncing.

"Sorry," Randy shrugged, but moments later he was bouncing again.

Alex wanted to kiss the ground when they finally got off the plane. Before Alex had the chance, she and Randy were just about bowled over by an excited woman. Alex automatically thought it was some crazy fan, before realizing that it was Randy's mother. Alex noticed Elaine's eyes go wide and mouth drop as she looked at Alex, but she didn't say a word. Elaine had been in the wrestling world long enough to know when to keep her mouth closed. The second they were in the car was a different story.

"Randy, let Lex sit up front," Elaine scolded her son who tried to sit in the front passenger seat.

"Aw mom," Randy sulked, but let Alex take his seat,

"Hey, you knocked the girl up the least you can do is let her have the front seat," Elaine responded as though she was scolding a teenager, "and when were you going to tell me that I was going to be a grandmother?"

"We were waiting until we saw you guys, we figured, it wasn't fair to tell you over the phone," Randy shrugged.

"Then you should have come and seen us earlier Randall Keith Orton," Elaine responded pulling out of the parking lot.

"To be fair to Randy, he hasn't known all that long either," Alex said quietly, deciding to take some of the pressure off Randy.

"Yeah, I would have told you sooner if Alex had told me sooner, I only found out like two months ago," Randy cried raising his hands.

"You couldn't look at your girlfriend and tell she was pregnant? Seriously Randy, I didn't raise a fool,"

"What, did you expect me to go up to her and say, 'Hun you're putting on weight, do you have a bun in the oven or have you just been eating too many buns?'?"

"Alex honey, what do you see in my son?" Elaine asked shaking her head.

"I'm just that good," Randy responded from the back seat, "hey mom, can you please drop me off at your place and take Alex back to mine? I'm sure she'd like a shower, a rest, and to continue hearing how much of a mistake she's making,"

"Are you going to go talk to dad?" Elaine asked,

"No better time than the present right? I'll call you when we're done and we can go have dinner, if I survive,"

They spent the rest of the drive with Elaine drilling Alex for information. Alex was due March 25th and they were having a boy, but they didn't have any names yet. Elaine dropped Randy off before taking Alex to Randy's place. She pulled into the driveway and the two headed inside,

"Welcome to Randy's place, though you guys seem pretty settled at John's"

"Yeah I guess, we haven't spoken about where we are going to live. I guess we haven't spoken about a lot of things," Alex shrugged,

"Sometimes things just fall into place," Elaine explained, "now let me show you around the place, just note it's not always this clean."

"I've lived with your son long enough to definitely believe that comment."

Elaine showed Alex around the place and Alex was in shock; the house was bigger than John's,

"Some people just have too much money to waste," Alex muttered,

"Then you should wait to see our house," Elaine blushed slightly.

At the Orton residence Randy went looking for his father and found him in his office,

"Hey dad," Randy muttered, Bob jumped in shock turning around before realizing that it was his eldest son,

"Oh, it's you,"

"Are you busy or can we talk?"

"Your mother said I had to give you a chance to say your bit, so sit down," Bob sighed gruffly. Randy sat down and began explaining how he and everybody else blamed him for the miscarriage and how he's finally realized it wasn't his fault. Whether Randy had been in town or not Sam would still have miscarried.

Randy took a deep breath and apologized for screwing up so much; he apologized for getting into drugs and alcohol and explained that they were his tools to escape the blame that he felt from everybody else and himself.

"Dad, I haven't touched drugs in over a year and I haven't had a lick of alcohol in 6 months and I've begun to forgive myself. I'm in love with an amazing woman and she is making me a million times better person and we're going to have a baby," Randy rushed out,

"A baby?" Bob raised an eyebrow,

"Yeah, a baby boy due in March,"

"You're going to screw up someone else's life?"

"I think I'm going to be a good father,"

"You need to stop screwing up your own life before bringing someone else into it,"

"Dad, you didn't listen to me. I'm getting help and I've learnt the reason behind my behavior. I'm not the same guy I was 6 months ago," Randy said getting anxious, "did you see me at Survivor Series? Vince wanted me back, my suspension has been lifted. Vince even said that he was really impressed by my change,"

"Oh," Bob responded,

"I'm not perfect, I'm never going to be, but I'm getting better. Dad, you have to understand it's not my fault that Sam lost the baby,"

"Sam was the best thing that ever happened to you and you ruined it,"

"No dad, losing the baby was what ruined the relationship, losing the baby broke the trust. Alex is a million times better for me than Sam, and I love her so much. She won't take any of my crap for any reason and she loves me,"

"What does this have to do with me?" Bob raised an eyebrow.

"Everything, you're going to be a granddaddy and that baby boy is going to need you to tell him all the stories that you told me as a kid,"

"I don't know if I can put myself out there again," Bob said quietly,

"At least start by coming to dinner with us. Alex is at my place showering and resting. I don't want her upset in her condition she's nervous about her parents and their reaction and she doesn't need any more stress. So please just come to dinner with us because she wants to meet you and please be nice. If you want to keep blaming me, and being angry at me then be angry at me, but don't take it out on Alex," Randy pleaded standing up. Bob looked at his son and sighed,

"You really love her,"

"More than anything or anyone. And she's going to have my baby, my baby dad, and I'm not going to be able to do this without you. So please, just come to dinner and I promise you you'll love her too,"

"Maybe you are growing up," Bob sighed unable to suppress his smile.

"I'm trying,"

"Well let's go and have dinner," Bob responded, "where's your mother?"

As though they heard a dinner bell Becky and Nathan, Randy's younger siblings, showed up just as Bob and Randy were getting ready to leave. It looked like Alex was going to meet the whole family. Randy got a ride to his place with Bob and his siblings but planned to head to the restaurant with Alex and Elaine. When Randy walked in Alex jumped up to hug him,

"Hey, I'll definitely take this reception every time I come back,"

"I missed you," Alex smiled kissing her boyfriend,

"Good, so you're going to meet the rest of my family tonight, sorry," Randy replied kissing Alex back, "my brother and sister showed up expecting to be fed,"

"That's not fair on Alex, why didn't you get rid of them? You always do," Elaine said,

"Dad said that by law he has to feed them, something about caring for minors."

"At 21 and 25 they're not minors," Elaine sighed and Randy shrugged,

"I tried to get him to order pizza, but they have him wrapped around their little finger. I think he's afraid of meeting Alex by himself,"

"It's all good, you're going to meet my family in one go and they're definitely going to be, well interesting," Alex smiled patting Randy's arm, "besides I'm hungry and really craving pancakes, does this restaurant sell pancakes?" Alex asked genuinely concerned,

"Definitely," Randy smiled.

The three headed for the restaurant and while Randy gave Alex the front seat, Alex wanted to sit in the back with Randy. Elaine noticing her nerves decided to become chauffeur and smiled slightly as she glanced in the rearview mirror seeing Alex snuggled up against Randy. At the restaurant they walked in holding hands and spotted Bob, Becky and Nathan at the other end of the restaurant. As they walked towards the group Nathan jumped up, eyes wide,

"Holy crap she's pregnant!"

"Thanks for the subtlety bro," Randy muttered as Bob pulled Nathan back into his seat.

"I'm going to be an aunty? That is so cool," Becky cried excitedly.

"Alex, meet my brother Nathan and sister Becky. Brats meet my girlfriend, Alex and yes she's pregnant thanks for telling the whole world," Randy glared at his brother while pulling out a chair for Alex.

"Sorry," Nathan muttered.

"Finally Alex, I would like you to meet my dad Cowboy Bob Orton,"

"Hi sir," Alex said eyes wide before turning to Randy, "Dall, I'm hungry. Can I get my pancakes yet?"

"Pancakes for dinner? Bro, You certainly know how to pick them"

"Shut up Nate, she's pregnant and craving pancakes, she's getting her pancakes," Randy replied wrapping an arm around his girlfriend.

"So Alex, tell me about yourself," Bob muttered attempting to be nice. Alex stuttered and stumbled through telling Randy's father about herself, she felt like she was being interviewed.

"Where are my pancakes?" She whispered to Randy after a while.

"Honey, they're not ordered yet,"

"Why not?" Alex whined,

"Randy get the waiter and order your girlfriend her pancakes already, don't make a pregnant woman wait," Bob growled, "I learnt that lesson hard and fast when your mother was pregnant with you."

"You okay if I go order your pancakes?" Randy asked,

"Yeah, your mom will look after me if the rest of your family gets too crazy," Alex smiled.

Nathan and Becky kept talking to each other occasionally including Alex in the conversation, but aside from that the table was silent while Randy was gone. A few minutes later he returned and Alex grabbed his hand under the table. Randy had been so focused on facing his father he had forgotten to pay attention to how Alex was going to deal with meeting his family. The way she was holding his hand and was always excited to see him he could tell she was nervous. Randy got the conversation flowing, ignoring the underlying tension still between him and his father, but Alex only spoke when spoken to. Finally their meals arrived and Alex looked down at her pancakes, toying with them for a while,

"You're not going to eat them?" Nate asked,

"Nah, the thought of eating them makes me want to throw up,"

"You pushed Randy to get them now you won't eat them?" Nate pushed only to be hit in the head by a roll,

"OW!"

"It's a pregnant woman thing so shut up," Randy hissed.

"Yours looks good, can I try it?" Alex asked Randy who agreed. Soon Alex was eating Randy's entire meal so Randy grabbed her pancakes and started eating them. Bob Orton watched the couple smiling slightly he nudged his wife gently,

"When did he grow up?"

"He's been growing up this whole time, you've just been too stubborn to open your eyes and realize it".

After dinner Randy and Alex got a lift back to Randy's place and the two went to bed,

"You know, your mom has been asking a lot of questions about the kid,"

"She does tend to ask a lot of questions," Randy muttered wrapping his arms around Alex, "I'm sorry about my family,"

"Its okay, my family is going to be a lot worse," Alex responded yawning slightly, "I like your house,"

"Thanks, dad and I designed it," Randy muttered rubbing Alex's back absentmindedly.

"You did a good job," Alex rolled onto her back staring at the ceiling, "we're going into this blind folded aren't we?"

"What do you mean?"

"This baby thing, I mean we don't have any names, we don't know where we're going to live, we haven't even discussed parenting styles,"

"Hun, we don't have parenting styles, we've always been the kids,"

"And we can't be the kids anymore Randy, it's our turn to be the parents. We're bringing a baby into the world and we don't even know where we're going to call home," Alex sighed.

While Elaine was rather nonchalant about the fact they had no answers, the questions had freaked Alex out. What was going to happen when this baby arrived and they didn't know where to put it? Or what if Randy thought that spanking the kid was okay, but Alex didn't or vice versa? They couldn't always live their lives on the seat of their pants, not with a baby on the way.

"Alex, let's just focus on the vacation for now. Use it as research; we know what it's like in Mass. With John and Ashley, now we can look at living here and then we can check out living in Minnesota,"

"My daddy is going to kill you," Alex sighed pulling Randy's arm around her pregnant belly,

"I can handle him," Randy muttered laughing slightly. He had to admit he was slightly nervous about meeting this man Alex spoke of. From the sounds of things he was extremely protective of his youngest and the fact that Randy had "knocked her up" wasn't going to go down well. Alex was secretly hoping that the fact she was dating Randy Orton would soften her daddy up a little, take the pressure off the fact she was pregnant.


	26. Chapter 26

The next morning Randy woke extremely early, he watched Alex sleep for a few minutes then decided to do something nice for her. Randy went down to his kitchen and on a search to find out what food his mom had stocked the kitchen with. Randy smiled as he found everything he could ever possibly need or want. He quickly got to work making a massive breakfast, making scrambled eggs, fruit, bacon, pancakes, waffles, cereal, toast, bagels, omelettes, eggs sunny side up, pickles and orange juice. By the time he'd finished he'd been in the kitchen for well over two hours and had created a small buffet, figuring that surely Alex would be able to find something that she wanted.

As Randy was putting the finishing touches on breakfast he heard a scream coming from upstairs. Randy bolted upstairs to his bedroom and found Alex sitting on the bed sobbing.

"Lexi, what's wrong?"

"I had a nightmare... I had a dream that someone wanted to hurt you, so they took me and knocked me out. I woke up and I didn't know where I was. I screamed and then I really woke up and still didn't know where I was. I was scared," Alex sobbed out. Randy held Alex close and let her sob.

"Shh, it's okay; it was just a bad dream,"

"I know, but it was scary and these stupid hormones,"

"I know... its okay... You know if you want, I've got a special treat for you down stairs,"

"What kind of treat?" Alex asked looking up slightly,

"A tasty treat" Randy smiled. Alex jumped up and headed for the bedroom door, she stopped as she walked into the hall and turned around.

"Are you coming?"

The couple got downstairs and Alexwas completely shocked at what her boyfriend had done,

"What's this?"

"Breakfast, I know you've been all over the place food wise with the pregnancy. So I wanted to try and make sure you could find something you wanted to eat," Randy shrugged trying to seem nonchalant about the fact he'd just spent several hours making Alex a breakfast buffet. Alex spun around wrapping her arms around Randy and kissing him,

"You're amazing," she whispered against his lips. Randy smirked,

"Well if I would have known that all I needed to do was make some eggs and pancakes to get you in the mood..." he wrapped his arms around her. Alex smacked him slightly,

"Don't ruin the moment Dall," she grabbed Randy's hand and pulled him towards the table, "I'm starving".

Randy sat at the table opening his arms out for Alex to sit in his lap. She was definitely starting to get heavier, but Randy didn't care. It just meant that his son was growing well. Alex looked at the table spread frowning slightly,

"What's wrong?" Randy asked,

"There is nothing here I want," Alex replied with a completely straight face,

"You're kidding me!"

"Yep," Alex smirked kissing her partner. She leant forward filling a plate with bacon, waffles, strawberries, cream, toast, and pickles. As she filled her plate Alex moved around slightly on Randy's lap, after a moment Randy grabbed her hips pulling her against his chest,

"You have got to stop moving like that," he whispered against her hair,

"Why?"Alex smirked,

"Because having the sexiest woman in the world gyrating on my lap tends to have a big effect,"

"Really now? Maybe I should keep doing it then," Alex responded once again moving around on Randy's lap.

"Lexi," Randy breathed. Alex dipped a strawberry in cream before placing it between her lips and sucking the cream off, "you're evil you know that don't you," Randy sighed pulling Alex around to face him better,

"You love it,"

"And you" he muttered leaning in to kiss her. After a moment Alex pulled away, "hey" Randy protested. Alex leaned back and shook her head,

"I'm hungry," she told him,

"Me too," Randy pouted,

"You're ruining the moment again Dall," she sighed turning back to her plate.

Randy pouted as Alex began to eat, but soon he got over it and was able to enjoy the food he made,

"This actually tastes really good," Alex said surprised,

"I've told you before I am quite the breakfast connoisseur,"

"I should start listening".

After Alex had eaten what she could she smirked slightly before grabbing a strawberry and dunking it in the cream, she turned around and held it near Randy's lips. As she did this she reached her other hand behind her towards the cream. As Randy ate the strawberry out of Alex's hand, she dipped her fingers in cream. Once Randy had finished eating she leant in and kissed him only to bring her creamed fingers tohis face.

"Gah!" Randy cried in shock,

"Hey babe, you have a little something-something on your face," Randy smirked grabbing a handful of cream and smearing it across Alex's face. The two started smearing cream over each other.

Suddenly Randy grabbed the entire container of cream and tipped it down Alex's shirt,

"What was that for?" Alex squealed,

"I need my favourite topping on my favourite dessert," Randy smirked pulling Alex's shirt off.

"Dall!" Alex squealed as Randy began to lick off the cream. The two made it over to the couch before losing control.

"Amazing," Randy muttered afterwards. They were lying on the couch enjoying the feel of each other's body. Suddenly there was a slight knock and the front door opened,

"RANDY!" Elaine called having not yet seen the couple naked on the couch.

"MOM!" Randy called in shock, "Don't come in!" Randy cried quickly attempting to find a blanket within reach. Thankfully he found one over the back of the couch and was able to pull it over them just as Elaine walked into the living room,

"Ah... Hi Alex, Randy," Elaine blushed quickly realizing what she'd walked in on, "did you forget that I was coming to pick you up at 12pm?"

"Obviously," Randy sighed wondering if he was as red as his girlfriend was.

"Oh for the love of god Randall give the girl the blanket, I gave birth to you and changed your diaper,it's not like I haven't seen you naked before." Elaine said while Randy was trying to figure out how to cover both himself and his girlfriend. Randy helped Alex carefully wrap the blanket around herself before quickly dashing upstairs.

Randy stood up attempting to cover everything,

"Here," Elaine laughed tossing her son his boxer shorts that she'd found on floor near the couch.

"Thanks," Randy muttered quickly pulling on his shorts, "we weren't doing anything when you walked in," he blushed as Elaine began to clean up breakfast.

"Randy you are nearly 30 years old and in your own home, what you do is up to you,"

"But we weren't actually doing anything,"

"Oh I know,"

"How?" Randy asked confused

"Because, your poor girlfriend would have been a lot more embarrassed. Now, I'll clean up this mess and you go make sure Alex is okay and have a shower... Not in the same bathroom," Elaine said scolding her son slightly. Randy turned to head upstairs but stopped at the bottom,

"Mom, please don't tell dad about this,"

"I won't, besides your dad's been caught in much worse positions than you..."

"Don't want to know," Randy put his hands up trying to stop his mom getting into any more detail. Elaine came over to Randy pulling his hands down,

"Don't worry; no one ever needs to hear those stories. Now go shower, you smell like..."

"Just think about what was going on about 10 minutes before you walked in," Randy smirked,

"Go, just go!" Elaine scolded.

Randy headed upstairs leaving his mom to clean up,

"What was he feeding 50 people?" Elaine muttered under her breath just as Alex walked down the stairs. She saw Elaine and began to blush; she couldn't believe what had happened.

"Alex, don't be embarrassed," Elaine said seeing her blushing.

"I... I... Just... I don't know. Let me help you clean up," Alex rushed out before distracting herself. Elaine watched the young woman for a moment before continuing what she was doing,

"I've been saving the leftover food... Different containers – bread, bacon, fruit and eggs,"

"Oh no... Don't keep the eggs," Alex responded hurriedly, the thought of eggs especially reheated repulsed her.

Elaine laughed and got rid of the offending food, she remembered back to her pregnancy days. As Alex helped Elaine clean she couldn't help but think about the conversation they had the day before. She and Randy had no idea about the important things regarding the baby, where were they going to raise him? What were they going to call him? How were they going to raise him?

"Do you believe in spanking?" Alex asked Elaine, the woman looked up noticing the pensive look on Alex's face. She pulled out a chair for Alex and sat in another one,

"Did we spank our kids? Yeah, we did and they turned out pretty okay. Did we hurt our kids? No, we were always very careful. Bob has a bit of a temper, especially with Randy ever since the stuff with Sam, but he loves all three,"

"What were Randy and Sam going to name their kid?" Alex asked quietly. Randy heard the question as he walked down the stairs and answered while still out of sight,

"Robert Keith Orton, after my dad. You know you could have just asked me, I would have told you,"

"But, you weren't in the room when I thought of the question. I like the name Keith, that's your middle name isn't it?" Alex asked scared she had over stepped the boundaries,

"Yep, I would like our son to have Keith as his middle name," Randy explained, "thanks for cleaning up mom," he kissed his mom on the cheek slightly,

"Are you guys ready to go? Your father is waiting at home. Alex said she'd never seen the St. Louis Arch so we thought we'd take you there today," Elaine explained as Alex and Randy put their shoes and jackets on.

"What took so long?" Bob Orton asked gruffly as Elaine, Alex and Randy walked in the house 20 minutes later.

"Randy had forgotten I was coming so they weren't ready," Elaine explained causing Alex to blush slightly.

"I'm going to show Alex the house," Randy explained grabbing his girlfriend's hand and taking her around the house. Alex's eyes were wide and jaw on the ground as she followed Randy around the huge house. Alex had never been in a place so big.

"This is my room," Randy blushed slightly as he opened the door to his old bedroom. Alex chuckled looking around; Randy seemed to have a passion for space. On the walls were pictures of different planets and space crafts, while there were several models of crafts on the shelves. On the ceiling were glow in the dark stars and planets. The bookshelf was full of science books. Alex learnt something about Randy that she'd never known; he was a closet science geek,

"There used to be sports posters and trophies up as well, but when I moved most of them came with me. Mom decided to keep this set up to remind her of when I was all young, innocent, had half a brain..."

"... and no real aspirations of becoming a wrestler," Elaine finished, walking into the room, "though I guess he always wanted to be like his dad. Always watching his matches and watching him train; I should have seen it coming. Oh well," Elaine shrugged, "Randy have you finished showing the house? Your father has ants in his pants waiting to leave,"

"We're coming, Lex I'll show you more of my hidden geek side later," Randy smiled leading his girlfriend to the front door.

"Finally," Bob huffed as the group came down the stairs, "Randy you take longer to get ready than your sister,"

"Whatever, let's go."

The group headed out to the car where Alex and Randy sat in the back seat as Bob drove them to the St. Louis Arch,

"This was one of Randy's favourite places as a kid," Elaine explained to Alex as they pulled up.

"It's amazing, bigger than I thought," Alex muttered in awe. Randy took Alex up to the top of the Arch,

"Wow, it's beautiful," Alex muttered enjoying the view.

"Not as beautiful as you," Randy whispered against Alex's ear. Alex blushed slightly before looking down,

"Hey look, I can see your mom and dad," Alex pointed,

"They look so tiny,"

"They're hugging," Alex smiled as Randy wrapped his arms around her.

"I can't wait for that to be us in 30 years,"

"I don't know if I can spend another 30 years living with a closet science geek," Alex joked causing Randy to pout slightly. Alex turned around and kissed him slightly smirking, "You big baby... I don't know if I could handle being like that in 30 years, showing our son's pregnant girlfriend around,"

"You knew what I meant. Are you ready to head back? I'm hungry," Randy asked as his stomach growled.

Randy and Alex rejoined Randy's parents a few minutes later,

"I'm hungry," Randy complained to his mom, "Can we go to Outback Steakhouse?"

"Oh can we? Please Elaine, can we, can we, can we?" Bob asked excitedly jumping up and down,

"And you keep telling me to grow up?" Randy asked raising an eyebrow, "I'm just learning from the best,"

"Dall..." Alex growled lightly backhanding her boyfriend. Randy just rolled his eyes,

"Where does Alex want to go?" Elaine asked ignoring the men's behaviour,

"Outback works," Alex smiled as her stomached growled. It felt like an eternity since breakfast and since both Randy and Bob wanted Outback she was happy to oblige.

At lunch Alex learnt a lot of things about Randy that she'd never known. Elaine gave great pleasure telling Alex about Randy's science geek days, how he'd spend hours outside watching the stars or with his nose in a book learning about different things. He was always keen on learning something new, but he was also always into sports, trying different things. Randy always wanted to watch his dad wrestle and begged his dad to teach him different moves. He was always in awe of his father.

"So, Alex, my lovely wife has just spent all this time telling you about Randy but we know nothing about you," Bob said half way through their main course,

"Getting Alex to talk about herself is like pulling teeth," Randy laughed only to be backhanded. Alex rambled out a bit about her history, embarrassed that she definitely didn't have a brain or a childhood anything like Randy's.

The couple spent the rest of the day with Randy's parents and were joined by Nate and Becky for dinner. That night while lying in bed Alex looked up from the T.V,

"I like Taylor,"

"Taylor? Lautner or Swift?" Randy asked confused,

"For our baby,"

"Taylor Keith Orton," Randy tried the name out, "I like it," he smiled down at his girlfriend kissing her.


	27. Chapter 27

The night before Randy and Alex left Missouri Bob asked if he could have some one-on-one time with his son. Bob and Becky showed up at Randy's around 5 pm,

"Alex, I thought that while dad and Randy went out we could hang," Becky explained excitedly. Alex had spent a little time with Randy's siblings and definitely thought that Becky was the saner of the two. The entire family had a different grasp on reality than Alex and she had found that difficult during the week. Randy was similar to his family, but he was a little more down to Earth, at least he seemed to be.

Bob drove Randy to a local restaurant,

"I've been watching you this week," Bob began, "I want you to know I'm proud of you. You've definitely been growing up lately and I think you're going to make a great father,"

"Thanks," Randy responded taken back by his father's touching words, "I've really been trying,"

"I can see that and I'm really impressed at how much you have changed. This injury seems to have come at a good time and been a good thing,"

"That and Alex. If I hadn't found Lex I would probably have just spent the time moping around drinking. Lex has certainly given me a new outlook on life and why I do things. I don't know who I was before I met Lex, but I look in the mirror now and I like what I see,"

"So do I son,. You're going to make a fantastic father and whatever you do with the rest of your life you're going to be fantastic," Bob smiled.

Randy was embarrassed by his father's words, but he was also flattered. He couldn't remember the last time his father had taken time to say something nice to him. Usually Bob just yelled at him.

"I love you son," Bob said giving his son a hug goodbye later that night. Elaine was driving Randy and Alex to the airport in the morning so it was the last time Bob would see his son.

"I love you dad," Randy responded feeling a sense of accomplishment. He was glad that this detour hadn't been a waste of time and his father was starting to open his eyes and see that Randy wasn't just the good for nothing everyone thought he was.

At the airport the next morning Elaine hugged her son and Alex crying slightly while saying goodbye,

"Mom, we'll be back," Randy rolled his eyes,

"I know, but it was so good to have you home and you're going to have a baby…"

"We'll come back when the baby is born, or you can come see us,"

"It's my first grandchild,"

"I know," Randy smiled, "did I tell you we've decided on a name,"

"No,"

"Taylor Keith Orton," Alex smiled,

"Beautiful," Elaine sniffed slightly.

"Mom we have to go," Randy said wanting to get through security and to the gate, "I love you,"

"I love you too and you too Alex," Elaine sighed grabbing her son and his girlfriend once again.

They said their final goodbyes before heading through security. Once they were on the other side Randy looked back and saw Elaine watching trying to see where they were. He smiled slightly, his mom was amazing.

It wasn't long until Randy and Alex were in their business class seats on the plane waiting for takeoff. Alex had been getting increasingly quiet the last couple of days and Randy could tell she was nervous.

"I warn you… My family is obsessed," Alex explained,

"That's okay," Randy shrugged,

"No, I mean seriously obsessed. They're worse than Jamie,"

"Worse than Jamie?" Randy asked raising an eyebrow,

"Yeah, you and John are their favorite wrestlers. They were on the phone for over an hour after Survivor Series completely analyzing everything you and John did,"

"Oh…"

"Yeah, so I apologize now for their behavior. There is a reason I haven't told them who you are,"

"So… I'm kind of like a Christmas present," Randy laughed,

"Yep, Merry Christmas I'm dating Randy Orton… Oh and I'm having his baby,"

"How will they react?"

"They'll freak… My dad is going to kill you,"

"Kill his favorite wrestler?"

"You're not his favorite, he hates you. Especially your behavior out of the ring, and when he finds out that I'm pregnant he is definitely going to kill you," Alex smiled slightly grabbing Randy's hand as the plane took off,

"I don't want to die," Randy pouted,

"I'll do my best to keep you alive," Alex laughed.

Jamie picked the couple up at the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport,

"Hotel or your place?" Jamie asked as they pulled out of the airport parking lot.

"Let's get it over with," Randy shrugged, "if your dad is going to kill me I'd rather get it over with sooner than later," Jamie laughed, knowing just how crazy Alex's dad was going to be when he heard the news.

"Wait here, let me talk to them first," Alex said indicating for Randy to stay by the car.

"Wait!" Randy called as Alex began to walk to the house, "A final kiss for a man on death row?"

Alex rolled her eyes, but walked back and gave Randy a kiss.

"You're not helping in keeping the pregnant woman unstressed!" Alex growled before turning back to the house. She looked at the front door before taking a deep breath and walking in the house.

"Mom? Dad? Anyone home?" Alex called walking into the house.

"Alex!" Her mom rushed forward hugging Alex, "I thought you would never get here, now let me have a look at you,"

"Mom,"

"Alex, I have not seen my youngest daughter in nearly 7 months. My motherly rights means that I can worry," she said holding Alex at arm's length and looking her over, "You look in one piece… Though there seems to be something that you've neglected to tell me,"

"Ah yeah," Alex took a deep breath, "I'm pregnant?"

"I'm guessing it belongs to this mystery man?"

"Yeah,"

"Are we going to meet him?" Alex's sister, Tesha, asked walking into the room carrying 3 year old Adrian,

"Aunty Alex," Adrian called out excited to see his aunt,

"JJ!" Alex replied hugging her nephew, "My boyfriend's outside. Is dad and Greggy here?"

"Yeah, they're downstairs,"

"Well get everyone into the living room. As overwhelming as it's going to be, it's probably best that Randy meets you all at the same time," Alex sighed.

Alex hugged her family members as they came into the living room and tried to keep her heart rate down, she was nervous. Alex's dad and brother growled as they noticed her pregnant belly, but had been pre-warned to behave themselves.

"So, when are we going to meet this smart ass that knocked you up?" Alex's brother growled,

"He's outside, but I wanted to talk to you before you meet him. You guys kind of know Randy and when you meet him, please don't freak out,"

"How can we know him, but never have met him,"

"Let me go get him and you'll see," Alex said turning quickly to go outside, "just please behave and don't freak out"/

A couple of moments later Alex walked through the front door holding Randy's hand,

"Mom, Dad, Tesha, Bre, Greggy, brats… I'd like you to meet my boyfriend, Randy," Alex said pulling Randy around the corner to the living room, "Orton".

Alex's nephews all ran forward looking up at the man in shock,

"Holy crap it's DALL!" Cried Alex's second eldest nephew, Dylan.

"Heh, nice one Alex only you could hook a wrestler," Tesha laughed as Alex's dad and brother rushed forward angry,

"So you're the one who knocked up my little girl are you?"

"Ah… Yes sir," Randy gulped backing away.

"Daddy, be nice to Randy. He's the father of your unborn grandson," Alex said putting her hand on his arm,

"I have four grandson's I don't need another,"

"Okay, well then I'm the father of your future granddaughters," Randy said nervously

"Oh hell no! You two are not doing anything that results in children until one, there is a ring on her finger and I'm dead,"

"I can organize both; I just need to know do you want to be buried or cremated?" Randy smiled hoping to lighten the mood,

"Come let me show you my man cave, it's getting re-floored next week, good place to hide bodies you know," Alex's dad smirked causing Randy to gulp. He was more afraid of Alex's dad than he was the Undertaker. Even though the Undertaker could take him down a lot harder and a lot faster, he'd never knocked up Undertaker's daughter.

"Daddy, don't kill Randy. I love him."

"Why don't I join you two, I wouldn't mind talking to him myself," Greggy smirked.

Alex nodded for Randy to go with her brother and dad. Randy followed the two men down the stairs nervously,

"You know, I think I like you," Alex's dad smirked, as they got down to the Man Cave. Greggy grabbed Randy and held his arms behind his back while Alex's father took a swing hitting Randy in the face.

"I thought you said you like me,"

"I do, but you knocked my daughter. It was either this or you become my new rug," Alex's father smirked,

"Alex is going to be pissed,"

"Why?"

"You punched the father of her unborn child. She's kind of going to notice the black eye,"

"She'll be happy you're still alive," Greggy laughed pulling Randy's arms back even harder,

"She won't be if you damage my shoulder," Randy replied struggling against the man.

"Let him go," Alex's dad muttered. In reality the last thing that he wanted was to make Alex mad. He was definitely wrapped around his daughter's little finger.

An hour later the three men went back upstairs. Alex's nephews had been happily playing while Alex and the females in her family were discussing the last few months and what it was like dating a WWE Superstar and living with two of them.

Alex looked up at them and sighed. "Daddy I thought I told you to be nice." She said as she got up.

"I was nice he only has a black eye." he replied. She turned to glare at her brother,

"Well don't just stand there go get an ice pack. I'm sure you had something to do with it. Are you alright?" She asked,

"Yeah, my shoulder hurts more than my face," Randy shrugged glaring at Alex's brother. His shoulder didn't actually hurt too much, but he realized he could get Greggy in trouble if he played the injury up.

"What did you do to his shoulder?" Alex asked turning to her father,

"Nothing…" He responded, "Greggy just held him back," He continued seeing an angry look on his daughter's face.

"You're idiots! Don't you read wrestling sites? Randy had major shoulder surgery this year, his shoulder is a total no go zone,"

"Ah… Where's that ice?" Alex's father barked nervously.

"Right here dad," Greggy said handing Randy an ice pack. Alex's hit her brother,

"Don't hurt my boyfriend EVER again. Though you got lucky, he could probably kill you," Alex growled.

The next few days went better, Alex's family slowly started getting used to Randy, though every time he walked into a room Alex's nephews stopped what they were doing and just stared at the man. Monday night came around and it was time for Raw, it was the WWE special, "Tribute to the Troops". Randy wasn't going to say anything, but really the last thing he wanted to watch was the most coveted event in the WWE year. He'd gone on the trip twice, favors to his father who'd whispered in the ears of the powers-that-be. Both trips had opened his eyes and he had a great deal of respect for the service men.

"Alex," Randy whispered half an hour into the show, "do you want to go for a walk?"

"It's 20 below outside,"

"Well, you want to go up to your room or something?" Randy asked not wanting to stop the family from watching their favorite show, but not wanting to watch it himself,

"Are you okay?"

"I just don't want to watch this, but I don't want to stop your family watching it,"

"Mom, daddy Randy and I are going upstairs," Alex said to her parents before grabbing Randy's hand and pulling him upstairs.

"Keep that door open!" Alex's father called up the stairs,

"I already knocked her up, there's not much more I can do," Randy laughed calling back only to be hit by Alex.

"Don't worry Daddy, I already hit him," Alex called down to her father.

"Are you okay?" Alex asked as they walked into her bedroom,

"Brilliant, I just don't want to watch the one show I want to be at," Randy explained pouting slightly.

"I'm sorry," Alex smiled, "how's your shoulder feeling?"

"Stiff, sore, like it's never going to get better,"

"It'll get better,"

"You don't know that, the doctors don't even know that," Randy sighed,

"I have faith in them and in you," Alex replied starting to rub Randy's back.

"What would I do without you?" Randy smiled turning around and hugging Alex, "I love you," Alex looked up at her boyfriend who leant down kissing her.

Soon the couple were on the bed making out. The door was still open as to please Alex's father, but it also meant that they had no privacy,

"Ooh Papa's going to kill you!" Called Alex's eldest nephew Jame's before running off calling out to his Papa. Alex and Randy jumped apart guiltily,

"Wait," Randy said after a moment, "Why do I feel guilty kissing my girlfriend?" He asked moving closer to kiss Alex again,

"Because you're petrified of my father," Alex replied pulling apart as she heard her father coming up the stairs, "Daddy, we kept the door open like you said…" Alex stopped as she saw the man at the door, "You're not my daddy,"

"No," he smirked.

"What are you doing here?" Alex asked standing up and moving further back in the room, the man stepped towards her,

"I heard you were in town, I thought I'd come and visit,"

"Who let you in?"

"The backdoor," the man said cornering Alex.

"I see you've been misbehaving," the man said putting his hand on Alex's pregnant belly.

"Don't touch me," Alex hissed,

"Alex what's going on," Randy asked cautiously. He could tell that Alex wasn't happy to see the man and was in fact quite scared,

"Tell him it's nothing," The man whispered in Alex's ear,

"Ah… It's nothing," Alex sputtered out,

"Now are you going to come home with me?"

"No," Alex whispered trying to find some nerves,

"No? You say no to me?" The man hissed slapping Alex. Randy jumped raced up to the man pulling him back,

"Get your hands off my girlfriend!" He hissed shoving the stranger towards the door,

"Your girlfriend? She's MY wife," the stranger laughed before walking out, "I'll be back".


	28. Chapter 28

**A/n: This story now has OVER 100 reviews… YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME! **

"Wife?" Randy asked in shock as the man walked out, "WIFE? You're married?" This was definitely not news he was expecting.

"Technically yes," Alex muttered shaking. Just then her parents raced in the room,

"What the hell is going on?" Her father barked angrily. Alex raced forward wrapping her arms around her father,

"Why is he back?" She asked sobbing. Alex was petrified to see her old flame,

"We heard he got parole, but we didn't think he'd come here. Isn't that restraining order still in place?" Alex's dad explained,

"He's walked straight through it before," Alex's mum said pointedly.

"Randy, where are you going?" Alex asked seeing her boyfriend head for the door,

"You're married!"

"Not by choice," Alex tried to explain,

"You're married and you NEVER once told me,"

"It never came up,"

"Of course, there was never an opportunity to mention it. Not when I was telling you about my past, not when we were talking about our deepest darkest secrets NEVER," Randy was furious and heartbroken. He'd trusted Alex and had completely fallen for her, but she'd played him. He realized he was probably the victim of some con planned by Alex and her husband, he was too angry to notice her fear.

"Randy…" Alex started not too sure how to continue. She'd only seen Randy this angry once and that was when he was drunk and broke John's face. She was scared she had just ruined everything and knew it was something that she should have told Randy, but had been hoping to deal with everything before he ever found out.

"Where you going boy?" Alex's dad asked as Randy once again headed out the room,

"Away from here!"

"If you go out in this weather you'll freeze to death before you get to the corner,"

"I'll take a cab,"

"Boy, this is where the 'I like you' comes into play. Go put some shoes on and a jacket and I'll take you wherever you want to go," Alex's dad barked out. Randy was still afraid of the man, despite everything Randy had knocked up his daughter.

As Randy put his shoes on and Alex tried to explain everything he began to think about the baby growing in his girlfriend's belly. With the reveal of the con that Alex and her husband were pulling Randy wondered if the baby was really his.

"Randy, listen to me… PLEASE!" Alex begged as Randy put his jacket on,

"Now you want me to listen? Now you want to tell me the truth? Not in the last 7 months that we've… Oh you know… BEEN LIVING TOGETHER!"

"I know I should have told you… But it's not what it seems,"

"Oh so now you're not married?" Randy asked sarcastically,

"No, I'm married, but…" Before Alex could finish Randy walked out the front door.

"I'll talk to him," Alex's dad said kissing his daughter as he followed the man out the house.

"If that bastard had just signed the divorce papers I wouldn't be in this mess," Alex hissed at her mother,

"Married or divorced its still something you should have told him,"

"I know. I made a mistake, but it's not like he hasn't made 50 million. The first night I was in Mass. He got drunk and broke John's face in two places. He got himself suspended running through a hotel in his boxer shorts…,"

"Maybe so, but he just found out he's dating a married woman. What do you think he's thinking right now?" Alex's sister asked walking in the room.

"Randy, boy, you need to calm down," Alex's dad said noticing Randy thrashing in his seat,

"She's married, she's fricken married!"

"You didn't give her a chance to explain,"

"I think it's pretty damn explanatory in itself," Randy hissed. Alex's dad pulled over and turned to face his daughter's boyfriend, ensuring to lock the car doors first. Not that it mattered, Randy could have easily unlocked the door from his side of the car.

"Alex and Brian met just over 3 years ago, they dated for about two weeks before Brian convinced her it was love and they should get married. So they did, just the two of them at city hall. I hated the guy from the get go, he was a jerk and always up to something.

"They were married less than 6 weeks when he started beating her. She didn't say anything at first, but she came around home one day to help with the boys and had a black eye. She claimed that she walked into a door. She didn't want anything done about it or to admit what had happened so we let it be," Randy gasped upon hearing this; she'd been beaten and hid it away.

"On their 6 month wedding anniversary he put her in the ICU for the second time… The first time we'd gotten a restraining order against him, he walked straight through it," Randy's heart was dropping. He was still angry and hurting, but he could understand why this would be a secret that Alex kept.

Randy remembered when he'd first met Alex. She looked so sad and Randy saw that there was something going on under the surface. Alex must have been some bubbling volcano of fear and anger after what she'd experienced.

"After breaking his restraining order my son and I found him and roughed him up a little before turning him into the police. He got put away for 7 years and just got out on parole. Alex's lawyer kept screwing her over, he'd apparently go, try to get Brian to sign the divorce papers, but he'd always refuse. Then we found out that he was just taking Alex's money and shredding the paperwork," Alex's dad explained.

"My daughter should have told you that she was married and we're all going to kick her butt for holding that secret in. But try to understand and see things from her perspective. She didn't expect to see him tonight; when she stayed with you she was free from all the hell that she's faced here," he finished.

"Did he really put her in the ICU twice?" Randy asked carefully.

"Yeah, the second time was so intense that she had to have surgery to repair internal bleeding,"

"Crap! But… Oh I don't know…"

"Do you want to know how to get this dealt with?" Alex's dad asked.

"What? You got some big solution?"

"That I do," Alex's dad smirked, "you are 6'4" and what 250 pounds?"

"245,"

"Whatever. You are full of muscles. You walk up that path," Alex's dad pointed up a path to a house, "break down the door and use your strength and sheer size to get him to sign this," he finished holding up a document.

"That's it?" Randy asked raising an eyebrow. He'd certainly used his size and strength to get him what he wanted in the past.

"Yeah, then Alex'll get her divorce and you can go back to living the American dream,"

"Fine!" Randy growled.

Randy was halfway up the path when he stopped. He looked at the house just a few feet away then looked down at the dark car. He couldn't see him, but he knew the man in the car was watching him. Randy remembered the last conversation he had with his dad before coming to Minnesota, his dad had been proud of him for growing and changing. For not being that angry drunk kid he'd been just months before. He remembered what it felt like when his dad told him he was proud of him and that he loved him. He remembered the email he'd recently gotten from Vince encouraging him on changing his ways and he remembered how reading that felt.

Randy loved Alex there was no secret about that, he loved her more than anything in the world. But, Randy just couldn't give Alex's dad what he wanted. A few months ago he would have been through that door and nearly killing the jerk. But, a few months ago he hadn't met Alex and she hadn't completely changed his life. He liked the man he'd become and staring at the house just a few feet away he realized that no matter how angry and how hurt he was he couldn't take his anger on out another man.

There was also the niggling thought that maybe Alex's dad had made up the story of Alex's husband. Maybe it was all part of the con, everyone just trying to get a go at Randy's money. Randy had met plenty of people just after his money, his lifestyle and his name. When the kids at school had found out that he was the son of Cowboy Bob Orton he had a million friends in an instant. All of them wanting to come to his house and meet his dad, no one ever just wanted to play with Randy. Then when trouble struck Randy figured out who his real friends were, the ones that stuck around even when the crap hit the fan. They were definitely few and far between and when Randy found them he held on to them.

Back in Mass. John was finding it harder and harder to be on the road. Every minute he was out of state he was worrying about Ashley. As John moved up through the card he was given more and more opportunities, all of which he turned down. He said no to going oversees for Tribute to the Troops; he turned down the Europe trip and politely declined hosting a seminar at WWE's developmental facility, FCW. This meant John was able to spend three nights a week with Ashley.

The night of Tribute to the Troops, John was nowhere near a television. Earlier that day he and Ashley had driven an hour to get to Ashley's parent's house. They were spending the next couple of nights there to have Christmas morning with them, and then they would drive back for Christmas dinner with John's family. John had met Ashley's parents before, not long after he'd found out about the baby, they were nice folks, but very traditional and weren't too impressed with the fact that their daughter was pregnant and not married. They also weren't the biggest fans of John's career choice, but then neither was he lately.

On the drive Ashley and John had been talking about how next Christmas was going to be crazy, they'd have a little one with them.

"I've always wanted to have a little girl and name her Sophia," Ashley said breaking John out of his thoughts.

He'd been thinking about the first conversation that he'd had with Ashley's father and how he realized that meeting him wasn't nearly as bad as it would be for any future boyfriends of his unborn daughter. Ashley had been talking about her family's Christmas traditions and how much they meant to her.

"What?" John asked after a moment,

"I've always wanted to have a little girl and name her Sophia," Ashley repeated, "Sophia was my grandma's name; she was an amazing strong woman. She refused to go to a nursing home and so she lived with us when I was a teenager. She didn't take any crap from anybody even my dad. He may have been a grown man, but she wasn't afraid to put him over her knee," Ashley smiled wistfully, John gently placed a comforting hand on her leg,

"Sophia is a beautiful name," he responded, "You know my grandma, Grace, sounds a lot like yours. What was with women of that generation? You just don't see anyone with so little social fear these days. How about Sophia Grace? In memory of two very strong amazing women, in hope our girl will be just like them," John smiled across at his girlfriend,

"Beautiful," she muttered smiling back, "Oh, she just kicked; I think she likes her name." John held his hand against Ashley's stomach and was able to feel his baby girl kicking.

On the drive to Ashley's parents John decided that he was going to do whatever he could to get some private time with Ashley's dad over the next couple of days. John wanted to do things right, especially since Ashley's parents were very traditional. When John asked Ashley to marry him he wanted to ensure he had her father's permission first. John already had the ring he was going to give Ashley, but he was trying to find the right time.

His biggest concern was that he would propose at the wrong time and Ashley would take it the wrong way. Did he propose while she was still pregnant? Or would she think he was trying to be the gallant warrior taking responsibility for his own actions. Did he propose just after the baby was born? Or would she think he was just freaking out being a new father. Did he wait? John didn't think he could wait, in fact if he got Ashley's father's blessing he was hoping to propose before the New Year.

As Ashley and John were getting ready for bed that night John's phone rang, it was Randy. He was upset and turning to his best friend for advice. John put his coat on and went outside for privacy. Unfortunately Ashley's dad came past and started filling his daughter's head with ideas,

"He's on the phone?"

"Yeah, Randy called,"

"Randy?"

"His best friend,"

"He's taking calls in private Ashley, that's never a good sign,"

"He'll tell me about it later,"

"Yeah, when he has a chance to come up with a good story," Ashley's dad sighed. He wanted the best for his daughter and there was no way that some wrestler was it. However, Ashley's mom had seen the way her daughter's eyes lit up whenever John was around and how John hung on every word she said.

Ashley's mom had an over protective father as well and could remember trying to convince him that Jake, Ashley's dad, was the love of her life. He'd been like John once, a young guy who'd followed his dream and spread his wild oats. He wasn't the type of guy her father saw as suitable, but her mother had seen the love in her eyes just like she saw in Ashley's.


	29. Chapter 29

"Was everything okay with Randy?" Ashley carefully asked John when they finally got into bed, "I didn't expect him to call,"

"Me neither… But, he needed a friend,"

"What do you mean?" Ashley asked nervous about John's vagueness. Her daddy's words were having a greater impact that she had expected.

"Apparently Alex is married," John responded still trying to comprehend what his friend had told him

"What?"

"Yeah, I couldn't believe it myself, but that's what he said,"

"I mean, what, that's the best you can come up with?"

"What do you mean?" John asked confused,

"You've had plenty of time to make up a decent excuse for your mysterious phone call, and all you came up with was Alex is married? You can't do any better than making someone else looks bad?" Ashley was angry now, her daddy's voice was echoing louder and louder in her ears. John had to be making this story up, there was no way Alex would withhold such a vital piece of information.

"Ashley, I'm not making this up, I swear,"

"Now, you're lying to me, my daddy was right," Ashley was close to tears and ran out the room.

John was bewildered, he couldn't figure out where Ashley's outburst had come from. He jumped out of bed and tried to follow her,

"Let's have a talk," Ashley's father said intercepting John,

"I need to talk to Ashley right now,"

"She's talking to her mother, I want to talk to you," Ashley's dad, Jake, explained leading John back towards Ashley's room.

"What do you want sir?"

"I want to talk to you about my daughter; you think you're good enough for her?"

"No sir," John laughed slightly, "I know I'm not good enough, but I love her and as far as I know she loves me,"

"So naïve, you think that's all that matters? A little love?"

"Well… I guess I can give her a really good life too,"

"And what does it cost her? She'll never see you; you'll be off on the road sleeping with a new slut every night while she raises your daughter,"

"I'd never do that, I love her too much. I want her to be my wife, but only with your blessing,"

"Why should I give you my blessing?" Jake asked furiously protective of his daughter,

"Because you know she loves me and she's happy with me and you want to see your little girl happy,"

"Do you really love my daughter?"

"More than anything," John answered without hesitation,

"Do you love her enough to quit your stupid little job?" Jake asked, John thought about it for a moment, would he give up his career for Ash?

"Yes,"

"And your little rap business and those B grade movies?"

"Yes and yes"

"And get a real job, one where you're home every night?"

"Yes," John sighed slightly, he didn't know how he'd get a normal job or what he'd do, but if it meant being with Ashley he'd do it. He had degrees in education physiology and human anatomy, but didn't know how much of it was still in his head after all the times he'd gotten hit in the head.

"Well boy, when you quit your wrestling career then I'll give you my blessing to marry my daughter…"

"DADDY!" Ashley cried walking the room, "how dare you put a stipulation on my life. I love John and if I'm going to marry him I'm going to marry him wrestling career and all,"

"Ashley…"

"Daddy! You planted thoughts into my head that John might not be faithful, when he's never been anything but. He loves me daddy and I love him and if you can't handle that then maybe we should leave," Ashley growled causing her daddy to back up.

Randy stood in the cold dark staring up at the house in front of him, he'd made his decision but he was afraid to turn around, he was afraid to face Alex's father and tell him that he wasn't going to intimidate this thug, there were different ways to do things. Randy took a deep breath and turned around.

"What are you doing boy?" Alex's father asked as Randy got back in the car,

"I can't do it,"

"I beg your pardon?"

"I can't intimidate this Brian loser,"

"Why not?"

"Because your daughter taught me that there are other ways to deal with things. Can you drop me off somewhere?" Randy asked needing some time,

"Where do you want to go?"

Randy wanted to go to the bar, he wanted to drink his problems away, but he knew he couldn't he knew that he had to deal with this completely sober, especially since he was trying to change his ways. His life had been so much better since he'd given up his old life and he wasn't ready to lose that, especially if he was set to lose everything else.

"Is there an all night gym anywhere?" Randy asked after a moment,

"Yeah, there's one just around the corner. Are you just going to leave Alex?" Alex's dad asked and Randy heard hesitation and concern in Alex's father's voice,

"No," he responded after a moment, "I can make a couple of phone calls, might be able to get something organized. I'll talk to my dad and Vince and see if they can pull some strings. I'll catch a cab back to your place later," Randy explained.

The car was silent while Alex's father drove around the corner to the all night gym,

"Randy," he started after pulling his car up to the curb, "I know you're hurting and I know this probably seems like some sort of scam, but I swear to you, it's not. If you had seen my baby girl in the ICU you wouldn't have hesitated to go into that house, hell you probably would have killed the man,"

"I'll catch a cab back to your place later," Randy repeated getting out of the car and walking into the gym.

Two hours later there was a knock at Alex's front door,

"Good to see you boy," Alex's father smiled slightly seeing Randy standing there,

"Where's Alex?"

"In her bedroom with her nephews," Randy headed upstairs and found Alex lying on her bed surrounded by her nephews, they were all watching TV though it was clear that the youngest boy was starting to fall asleep.

Randy knocked on Alex's bedroom. James looked up and upon seeing Randy jumped to his feet,

"Who do you think you are? Storming out in a huff and now you're coming back here. You can't treat our Aunty like this, you little punk wrestler," James was aggressive that Randy was taken back a moment before he realized that he was being confronted by a little boy.

"Shouldn't you and the others be in bed?" Randy asked, "I want to talk to Alex… ALONE,"

"Brats, you can leave now," Alex sighed deciding to listen to Randy, after all he'd come back and that had to be a good sign. Randy watched as the little boys sleepily stood up and wandered out of the room glaring at Randy as they went.

"I made some calls," Randy quietly said, "I spoke to my dad and John and Vince. They all seem to think that the judge should have issued you a divorce after the first time you were in the ICU,"

"Dad told you,"

"So, tomorrow we've got an early morning appointment with one of Vince's friends. He specializes in family law, one of the best in the state,"

"When?"

"8am,"

"8am?"

"Alex, tomorrow is Christmas Eve, we're lucky that he's even going to meet with us,"

"Why do you keep talking as though it's more than just me?"

"Because I'm going with you," Randy said, it had taken a lot of thought and discussion to come to the point that he was going to go with Alex. John and his father had said it was the only way to figure things out for real, if Alex really wanted a divorce then she'd be okay with Randy going, if he didn't go she might not either.

"Does this mean we're…?" Alex asked not really knowing what to say,

"It means that I want to see what this is really about,"

"You think I'm trying to scam you," Alex muttered not really to Randy,

"This is not how I was planning to spend my Christmas. I'm angry and I'm hurt and I want to find out what this is really all about before I even start to look at you and me together,"

"Randy…" Alex started, "I'm so sorry,"

"Don't Alex, just don't. Tomorrow we'll go see what this lawyer can do and then… Then I'll figure out the next steps from there," Randy said before turning and walking out the room,

"Where are you going?"

"To my room," Randy shrugged.

"I love you," Alex called to his retreating back.

Once he was gone Alex burst into tears for what felt like the millionth time that night. She had cried so many tears over Brian, tears of anger and frustration, tears of hatred and resentment. She's cried tears over Randy too, but this time, she was crying for herself.

She'd ruined everything, completely ruined everything. It wouldn't have taken two minutes to explain everything to Randy and there had been a million of opportunities to do so. She'd been afraid that if she did something would happen, Randy would get angry or Brian would suddenly show up. She wanted to tell Randy the truth, she'd tried to start a million times but the fear was too strong.

Eventually Alex cried herself to sleep and in her dream world she relived the short time she'd spent with Brian, she felt the fear and then when she woke up in ICU the second time she didn't see Brian's face she saw Randy. He was angry and hurting; he wanted to know the truth and couldn't help, but question everything he thought was right. Alex woke up just before dawn she sat up right in a cold sweat and thinking about it she sighed. Randy had come back and there was something distinctive about him; she hadn't smelt alcohol on him.

Alex knew that before she had come along Randy would solve his problems with alcohol, even on her second night with him he had gotten completely drunk and broke John's face. Yet, this time, despite his anger and his hurt he hadn't had a drink, he'd stayed completely sober. That thought gave Alex hope, Randy was still hanging on to her, whether he realized it or not.

In the darkest hours before dawn Alex snuck downstairs to the room where Randy was sleeping. Alex crawled into bed beside Randy smelling his alcohol-free scent, a scent she could have gotten drunk off it herself,

"Is it really mine?" Randy asked, his voice thick with sleep,

"Without a doubt in my mind," Alex replied. Randy rolled over and faced the wall before starting to snore slightly, after a couple of moments Alex fell into a deep sleep.

"Ashley, I'm sorry," Jake said feeling guilty, but he still felt he was doing the right thing,

"Mom told me what you were doing, mom said you didn't see it the way I did… You know what else she told me daddy?" Ashley asked,

"What?"

"She told me that grandpa thought you weren't good enough for her and he made you give up everything for mom. She said that you were a trucker; you were on the road over 200 days a year, just like John, but grandpa thought you were nothing.

So, you gave up your dream to be with mom and you regretted it ever since. Oh you love mom like nothing else and would never give that up, but you haven't been happy not on the road. Now you're trying to press that same regret and resentment on to John. But, I'm not going to let him give everything up for me, because you might not think that he's good enough for me, but I'm not good enough for him."

"Ashley," John muttered afraid that Ashley was going to break up with him,

"Daddy, I love John, just like mom loves you. She found her diamond in the rough and I've found mine, but do not think you can make him give up everything just so you can make someone else miserable,"

"I'm sorry Ashley," Jake muttered and he genuinely was sorry. He remembered how he'd given up everything for Ashley's mom and how he'd been happy to at the time, but he didn't belong in a desk job, he didn't want a suit and tie. Ever since he'd been a little boy he'd wanted to be a truck driver.

Jake looked over at John and sighed. Looking back at him he saw himself at John's age young and naïve, ready to give everything up for love. Jake saw a little boy who dreamt of being a wrestler all his life and Jake realized he couldn't put John in the same position Ashley's grandpa had put him,

"John, I'm sorry," he muttered putting his hand out as a peace offering, "clearly you love my daughter and she loves you, if you want to marry her, you have my blessing," John shook Jake's hand, things hadn't exactly gone the way he'd planned.

"Marriage?" Ashley asked, now that she had shared her frustrations with her father. John smiled and went over to his jacket. He pulled a small box out of its pocket and turned around,

"Ash, this isn't exactly the way I wanted to do it. I was hoping we'd be dressed a little bit more elegantly than our pajamas,"

"John…" Ashley started nervously,

"I also thought I would know what to say,"

"John," Ashley tried again, but once more John just ignored her,

"So if this sounds hopeless and pathetic I'm sorry," he smiled slightly dropping down to one knee, "Ashley, I love you. I've loved you since the first moment I saw. Even through my drug soaked mind I knew that you were the woman I had been dreaming about all my life. , I would never lie to you and I would never be unfaithful. I love you Ashley and it would mean the world to me if you would please become my wife,"

"Ah… What?" Ashley asked she knew that the marriage question was coming; John and her daddy had been talking about it.

"Ashley, will you marry me? Please?" John asked, nervously.


	30. Chapter 30

"Ashley, will you please marry me?" John asked again after a moment of silence. His heart was beating so fast he was sure he was going to heart attack if he didn't get an answer soon. John notice Ashley subtly put a hand on her bulging stomach and he realized that one of his fears was coming true,

"Ash, this isn't about the baby," John rushed out nervously, "baby or not, I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you. I'm not going to change my mind and I'm definitely not going to stop loving you. I will ask you a million times if I have to; pregnant, not pregnant, in the middle of the night when Sophia won't stop crying, on a romantic getaway when it's just us, even when Sophia is grown up and has left home. I'm going to love you forever and I want to be your husband. So, will you please do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Randy's phone alarm went off at 6:30am; Alex was still sleeping beside him so he got out of bed and went looking for his clothes. He didn't care about being quiet and not waking Alex up so he banged through his suitcase until she did,

"Get up," his voice was full of sleep, but rough. Alex slowly sat up looking around and confused about where she was. After a moment she remembered her venture downstairs a couple of hours earlier, "Your dad said we need to leave no later than 7:15am," Randy explained before walking towards the bathroom.

Alex sat on the bed for a second before silently heading upstairs, she had a quick shower and before heading back downstairs holding a folder,

"Are you ready?" Randy asked waiting by the door,

"Let's go, do you have directions?"

"Yes," Randy responded. Alex found her dad's car keys before following Randy to the car.

When they reached the end of the block Alex shoved the folder in Randy's lap,

"What's this?" He asked,

"The truth," Alex responded,

"Since when do you care about the truth?" Randy's response was harsh and he still hadn't opened the folder, instead he was playing with the edges of it as though he was afraid to open it.

"Since when have you been so caught up with being a sanctimonious jerk?" Alex lent over slightly and opened the folder, "Just look at it… This is all you want… Court and medical records… See that photo?" Alex asked flicking through a few pages, "That's me".

Randy could barely tell it was Alex. Her face was badly bruised and cut up, one eye was swollen shut and there was bandaging wrapped around Alex's head. Randy turned away,

"Don't turn away… Look," Alex hissed,

"I don't want to," Randy muttered slightly,

"I don't care… You want the truth? Well it's right there. I never lied to you Randy, everything I have told you is the truth and the proof is right in that folder," Alex said pulling into the law firm's parking lot.

Randy closed the folder and took it with him as he followed Alex into the law firm. Alex didn't know the name of the lawyer they were seeing or anything about him so she was forced to wait for Randy.

"We're here to see Charles Palmer," Randy said to a young lady at the front desk. Alex felt sorry for the girl sitting there, it was so early and the day before Christmas.

"Take a seat, he'll be out in a minute," the young lady smiled sadly, if her father hadn't been the lawyer Randy and Alex were waiting to see she would still be in bed dreaming about the guy she'd met the night before.

"You must be Randy," a large bald man said walking out, "and you must be his… girlfriend? Vince didn't give me your name," said the man looking down at Alex after shaking hands with Randy,

"I'm Alex," she smiled shaking the older man's hand. She squashed the fear that Vince had accidently set up a meeting with her old lawyer, the man standing in front of her was definitely not the hot young lawyer she'd first met 3 years ago.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Charles Palmer," Charles said smiling, his teeth were so perfect Alex couldn't help but wonder if they were fake,

"Thank you so much for meeting with us today," Randy smiled, "I know that you have had to rework things and go out of your way,"

"That's okay; I owe Vince a favor, he introduced me to my wife" Charles smiled again, "why don't we go back to my office and we'll get down to business,"

"Sounds good," Randy responded and the couple followed Charles back to his office stopping near the desk on the way out,

"Kelly, wake up!" Charles growled at his daughter who was nearly asleep at the desk.

The three spoke for a while and Randy showed Charles the folder Alex had given him in the car. Charles seemed rather confident that a judge should have given Alex her divorce years ago and he could possibly even fast track things so that by the time New Years rolled around Alex would be a single woman and finally free from Brian.

Alex excused herself to the bathroom after an hour and Randy turned to Charles,

"Charles, the stuff in the folder we gave you?"

"Yeah?" Charles asked picking up the folder.

"Could it be fake?"

"What do you mean?"

"Could somebody have faked those documents, and the photos?"

"No, these are real, I did my research after your boss called me last night,"

"What about the photos?"

"They're completely real, if you look at Alex's face you can see a faint scar running down her chin, it perfectly mimics the cut you see here," Charles explained holding out a photo, "she's not trying to con you".

Randy thought about what Charles had said, he mentally recalled Alex's face and saw a distinctive scar running along her chin. He remembered tracing that scar many times, he'd even asked where she'd gotten it and instead of answering she would always just kiss him. He figured that she was self-conscious about the mark on her face.

Alex came back from the bathroom and a short time later the two said goodbye to Charles. They headed back to Alex's place. Alex suggested getting breakfast but Randy brushed off the idea, he needed to think about what Charles had said. Charles, a professional, believed Alex's history so there is no reason for Randy not to believe her either.

Deep down Randy really wanted to believe Alex's story. He really did, but her betrayal was screaming in his head and drowning out the love he felt for her. When they reached her house Alex went upstairs, Randy was cold and harsh with his words and Alex really didn't want much to do with him.

"Would you drop me off at that gym?" Randy asked Alex's father after getting changed into some workout clothes,

"You really like working out don't you?" Alex's father said somewhat sarcastically,

"Kind of comes with the territory with being a PROFESSIONAL ATHLETE and all," Randy responded rolling his eyes.

"Watch the sarcasm boy or you can walk," Alex's father growled as though talking to his own child.

"Sorry," Randy muttered half heartedly.

Three hours later Randy was with a trainer at the gym,

"Thanks for the ice Brady," Randy smiled slightly. He was letting Brady wrap his shoulder in ice. Randy had let his frustrations get the better than him and had pushed his shoulder too far. His shoulder was now swollen and in agony, but he was fairly sure that he hadn't done anything too serious. So he stood there letting Brady cover his shoulder in tape before using two large ice packs and taping them down,

"No problem, it's a pleasure," Brady gushed slightly, overwhelmed at being there with Randy Orton. Randy looked towards the door and swore slightly,

"Quick forget that, grab my shirt," Randy rushed out trying to get his shirt on quickly.

"Randy, I can't believe you're at the gym," Alex said walking in. She had asked her dad where he'd taken Randy. At first he didn't want to tell her, knowing that Randy wanted some time, but Alex was his little angel and she always got her own way.

"There's nothing wrong with me being at the gym,"

"Yeah, because your shoulder is usually that big," Alex responded poking the ice pack under Randy's shirt, he flinched slightly,

"It's fine, just a little strained," Randy responded, "What do you care anyway?"

"Because I love you and I don't want you getting hurt," Alex explained trying to be soft, "I thought you loved me too,"

"I did, now I'm not too sure," Randy muttered.

Alex turned away; Randy's simple sentence had really hurt. Alex's doubts and insecurities were coming through, the same ones that had caused problems at the beginning of their complicated relationship.

"Brian's back in jail," Alex muttered after a couple of moments, Randy didn't respond to her so she continued nervously, "He violated his parole coming over the other night, so he's spending another Christmas in jail".

Alex was nervous, she was afraid she'd lost Randy for good. She hadn't meant for things to go this way and really had tried to tell him about Brian. Okay, so maybe she hadn't tried to tell him, she'd been too afraid, but who could blame her? Randy had his back to Alex and she stepped forward towards him, he took a step away,

"The lawyer called," she muttered knowing that the phone call she'd received bought a glimpse of hope, "he said that a judge will meet with me on Friday, the 27th, and I'll get my divorce."

"Okay," Randy responded absently,

"Then it'll be over, we can go back to Mass." Alex took a step towards Randy this time he didn't move away, she took that as a positive sign and put a hand on his arm, "and have the baby and start our family and you can continue rehab and go back to work and…"

"No," Randy said, Alex was taken back, but also grateful that her embarrassing rambling had been stopped.

"What?" Alex asked knowing that he was probably going to object to her perfect world plan.

"It won't be over," He explained, "It's not that simple,"

"Why not?" She asked, she knew the answer but she didn't have anything else to say. She definitely wasn't going to let him just veto her perfect world scenario.

"Because it's not," Randy said again, he still hadn't looked at Alex and now he took a step away from her.

"That's all you have to say? Like I'm some little child who is pushing for a reason why we can't go to the park," Alex was frustrated at her boyfriend's uncooperative behavior.

The silence was deafening while Randy formed his response in his mind. He was frustrated, angry and hurting,

"You don't understand," he finally muttered taking another couple of steps away from Alex; he had to get away from her. Being near her was dangerous, her smell, her eyes, her belly, they all made him lose his train of thought and remember the good things; it made him remember that he loved her. But he had to remember why they were there and why he was feeling so angry. Right now he couldn't remember that he loved her, if he did that he'd fall short,

"You aren't giving me the chance," Alex said quickly stepping towards him; she had decided that the sensitive route was probably going to be the best.

Alex put her hand on Randy's back lightly in a comforting way,

"Try me," she challenged him. Randy turned around closing his eyes and taking a deep breath,

"You want to understand? I just found out that the woman I love has been lying to me…"

"I didn't lie to you," Alex said taken back at Randy's aggression,

"Omission is just as bad as lying. You've been living a secret life; you've had this thing going on that I knew nothing about. You were scared for your life and you didn't tell me. You know what that tells me? What that screams at me? It tells me that you don't trust me," Randy growled the hurt in his voice was evident.

Alex didn't have any words to answer him with, but she could also tell that he wasn't finished,

"I told you EVERYTHING, but you didn't trust me to tell me. What did you think? That you'd tell me that you'd been young and stupid and married an asshole who beat you to a bloody pulp and I'd be mad? Or I wouldn't love you anymore? Or were you afraid that I was just like him?" Alex's eyes dropped and Randy knew he'd hit it on the head, "If that's what you thought? Then why didn't you leave when I got drunk and attacked John?"

"Because…" Alex muttered not really knowing what to say. Randy had been right, she had been afraid that he was just like Brian, but more so she was afraid that he wouldn't love her.

"You had the chance and you didn't leave,"

"It's not just that," Alex finally muttered,

"No, you also thought I wouldn't love you if I knew and you thought, you thought that I would turn on you,"

"Yeah," Alex muttered,

"How do you think that makes me feel Alex? Knowing that you don't trust me? That you thought I'd turn on you. I LOVE YOU ALEX! I've changed my whole life because of you and you didn't even give me the benefit of the doubt. You don't think that I would do whatever I could to protect you? Alex, I don't care that you're married; when I found out I did what I could to rectify the situation. I care that you didn't tell me because that tells me that you don't trust me and it makes me question if I'm just a sucker in a con scheme."

"Randy," Alex started, she felt about three inches tall, everything Randy had said was true, except the con scheme, "I'm sorry," she finally managed, "I'm not conning you,"

"I know that now, the lawyer did some research," Randy told her matter-of-factly,

"I'm sorry. You're right, I didn't trust you. I was afraid that you'd hate me if you found out that I'd made this stupid mistake. I was afraid that maybe you'd think it was my fault, that I'd done something to make him snap. I was afraid that if I told you then I'd wake up and find out that my dream guy and my dream life was just that a dream. I love you Randy, I really do and I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about Brian, I should have, but I was scared I'd lose you," Alex said with tears in her eyes. She looked up and saw that Randy had tears in his eyes as well.

"OH MY GOODNESS! IT'S RANDY ORTON!" Some young guy yelled reminding Alex and Randy that they were at the gym and having a very personal conversation in a very public place,

"Oh piss off!" Randy snapped before realizing what he said, he turned to the guy who luckily hadn't heard him. Brady and Alex however had and Brady stepped forward encouraging the young guy to work out and not to bug celebrities.

"No, it's okay, hey dude, do you want an autograph?" Randy said trying to make up for his slip up.


	31. Chapter 31

Randy signed an autograph for the young guy and even posed for a photo before following Alex out to her car. He was still silently cursing himself for snapping at the fan and was grateful that the young guy hadn't heard him. The moment Randy stepped outside of the gym he began cursing out loud, he still had the ice on his shoulder and mixing it with the -25 wind chill caused it to became painfully cold.

The ride back to Alex's house was silent, they'd put themselves out there showing their vulnerability and had run out of things to say. When they reached their destination Alex went upstairs while Randy went downstairs, he needed a shower.

Once Randy was clean he sat on his bed, his head was full of thoughts and he was struggling to understand them all. His shoulder was agony so he decided to wear his sling; he hadn't worn it since they flew to Minnesota. Absently he put it on and looked down on the inside of his sling were the fading words, "Dream, live, fly". Alex had told him those words when Randy had spoken about his father, they didn't really mean anything, but had become a motto between the two of them, a bit of a joke. Randy leant against his pillow and remembered the day he'd met Alex.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Randy was out the back of the arena, he was having a smoke when Alex had wandered back. She bummed a smoke from him.

"You lost?" Randy asked after watching his new companion light up her cigarette and inhale.

"No just getting some fresh air," she replied still not really looking at him,

"You're in a restricted area, wrestlers only"

"Oh sorry, thanks for the smoke," the companion replied before turning and heading back towards the main entrance.

"Hey you can stay, I don't care. What's your name?"

"Alex, you?" Randy was shocked, he'd never been asked his name at a wrestling event before. Everybody knew who he was, how could this girl not? He looked her up and down and saw the shirt she was wearing, it was one of his so she had to be a fan, then he saw the sadness in her eyes.

And he realized that she hadn't noticed who she was talking to. It was the sadness he saw in his own eyes every time he looked in the mirror, the sadness that had caused him to stop looking. He couldn't bear his reflection anymore and wondered if she felt the same way.

"I'm the guy on your t-shirt," he responded, "Do you ever just want to escape?" He sighed inhaling once more.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Randy sighed; Alex had the saddest eyes when she'd wandered into his life. That sadness wasn't there anymore and Randy knew that when he looked in the mirror he no longer saw the sadness in his own eyes. It didn't take an idiot to figure out that his change had been caused by Alex.

His fingers ran over the words of his sling a few times before he sighed. Realizing what he had to do Randy headed upstairs. When he reached Alex's room he stood by the door for a minute and watched. She was curled up cuddling one of her nephews; it was Dylan, he was eight years old. It was a beautiful sight and Randy could tell that Alex was really good with kids and loved them.

While Randy was standing by the door watching the sweet interchange Dylan looked up noticing the visitor. He pulled on Alex's shirt telling her to look over. She whispered in her nephew's ear and he jumped off the bed running out the room giving Randy a death glare on his way out. Once Dylan was out of sight Randy walked into the room, but stayed close to the door, Alex just watched him,

"You wouldn't have lost me," Randy muttered after a few minutes,

"What?" Alex was confused,

"If you'd told me about Brian, you wouldn't have lost me,"

"Have I lost you now?" Alex asked her voice was full of trepidation. Randy walked over to the bed and sat down on the end; Alex stayed up near the head of the bed and curled her feet up when he sat down.

"You know, the woman I love believes in second chances and third and fourth and fifth, actually I think I'm on my 100th second chance. So I would be a total hypocrite not to give the woman I love and couldn't possibly live without a second chance," Randy looked up at Alex who starred back in disbelief, "Just no more secrets okay? I don't think I could handle it."

Alex looked at Randy for a couple of moments,

"I have a secret I need to confess," she muttered slightly, her head was turned so he couldn't see the glint in her eyes. Randy's heart began to beat faster and he wondered what else she had to tell him,

"Yes?"  
"I don't know how to tell you this," she said looking anxious and hesitating,

"You can tell me anything,"

"Okay… Well… I really hate your shirt," Alex finally said,

"My shirt?" Randy asked looking down at the shirt he was wearing, it was one of his favorites; a button down blue and black stripped long sleeve shirt from International Concepts, "This is one of my favorite shirts,"

"It makes you look like a total Flamer. Whenever you wear it out guys are checking you out, now I'm use to girls checking you out, but guys are just creepy," Before Alex had finished her sentence Randy had his shirt off, he didn't need to be told twice that he looked queer in a shirt.

"It's gone!" He said throwing the shirt towards Alex's trash can,

"Actually I really don't like most of your wardrobe; I have this secret desire to take you shopping and buy you a new one. You always look nice, but half the time you look gay or way too preppy,"

"Where did this come from?" Randy asked, not sure if he should be offended or flattered that Alex was being honest,

"You said no more secrets," Alex shrugged self-conscious.

"Well in that case, I have a secret," Randy decided to put his two cents in too. Alex was suddenly nervous, her heart beat a million times faster, "I hate it when you get really self-conscious when you're being honest or joking around or speaking your mind… or well anytime, because you're beautiful and amazing and there is no reason you should be hesitant over something," Randy smiled,

"Well… You know how you and John have that slap-stick routine you do every chance you get?"

"Yeah, it's hilarious, everyone loves it," Randy responded defensively,

"No it's not. It's embarrassing. Ashley and I always want to crawl under a rock whenever you guys do it," Alex said honestly, she'd been taken back by Randy's comment about her self-consciousness so she'd decided on a low blow. She watched as Randy playing grabbed his chest as though he'd been hit in the chest by an arrow,

"That was a low blow, I'm wounded," he said pathetically but making it clear that he was just playing, "okay no more secrets, my ego can't stand it,"

"Fine," Alex smirked, "I won't tell you how it's always been my secret fantasy to have make up sex with a hot professional wrestler while my parents watched TV downstairs."

Randy was on his feet and closing the bedroom door in an instant,

"Does this door lock?"

"Nope," Alex laughed, she laughed watching how Randy would react when she said something out of the ordinary that promised him good things. Randy looked around and saw a bookshelf near the door, he got behind it and with one hand he began to push it towards the door, planning to block it,

"Don't want any little visitors now do we?" He winked as Alex jumped up to help him move the bookshelf; she just rolled her eyes.

Half an hour later Alex's family heard her scream Randy's name in ecstasy,

"I'm going to kill him!" Alex's father cried jumping to his feet,

"Calm down Greg," Alex's mom said to her husband. Alex's brother Greggy had been named after his dad, "you were young once too…"

"Yeah dad, besides it doesn't sound like it's all Randy," Tesha laughed as they heard Randy scream out Alex's name,

"I don't care, he is DEAD!"

"Aw… Come on dad, surely you of all people know the importance of make-up sex," Tesha said,

"Honey, he's already gotten her pregnant so there is no denying that she's not a perfect little angel," The last thing Alex's mother wanted to hear was her daughter having sex, but she also knew that Alex was an adult and obviously not a virgin,

"But in my own house!" Greg cried flopping down on his chair defeated, "my own house!"

"And considering how afraid of you Randy is, it was probably your daughter who initiated it,"

"My daughter and in my own house," Greg was defeated. He sat in his favorite chair with his head between his hands repeating over and over, "my own daughter and in my own house".

When Greg finally calmed down he sat in his favorite chair thinking. There was no way he was going to let that punk wrestler get away with what he'd done. Greg plotted to sneak into the boy's room while he was asleep and beat the crap out of him. After getting his plan Greg sighed, Alex would never let him hear the end of it if he hurt Randy. So Greg decided that it was time Randy paid another trip to the man cave and was reminded who the man of the house was and if he just so happened to get a fist in the gut then so be it.

Alex and Randy didn't make an appearance until just before dinner time, it was Christmas Eve and the whole family was there.

"Dall, will you come to school for show and tell?" James asked over dinner, it didn't take long for the boys to realize that things were all good between Randy and their Aunty. So that meant all was good between them and Randy,

"Yeah, will you come?" Dylan asked jumping on the bandwagon. Randy looked across at Alex for advice.

"I promise you that Dall and I will pick you boys up from school before we leave, but he's not a show and tell item," Alex explained to her nephews who seemed happy to accept that answer.

After dinner Greg turned to his daughter's boyfriend,

"Randy boy, I'd like you to join Greggy and I in the Man Cave," Randy gulped, the last time he was invited down to the man cave he was over powered and given a black eye. He looked across at Alex nervously, she was nervous too. Alex had quickly figured out that her daddy knew of their afternoon activities and definitely wasn't impressed.

"You're not going to hurt him are you?" Alex asked holding Randy close, Greg sighed and rolled his eyes,

"No… we're not going to hurt him. We just want to have a little talk,"

"Alright, just don't hurt him," Alex pleaded saying goodbye to Randy, a trip to the man cave was never a good sign.

Hesitantly Randy followed Alex's father and brother down to the man cave.

"Take a seat," Greggy said shoving Randy into a seat,

"Now boy, I don't care if you're some big fancy shmancy professional wrestler and you may have already knocked my daughter up, but under no circumstances are you to EVER have sex with my daughter in my house!"

"Yes sir, I understand sir, it won't happen again," Randy rushed out; he wasn't going to say that it was Alex's idea. That'd probably just end him in more trouble, blaming Daddy's little girl?

"You know what boy? I don't think you do! I think you need to learn a lesson… Greggy?" Greg said stepping back to allow Greggy to pull Randy out of the chair and push him against the wall.

Greg punched Randy in the gut causing him to double over. After a moment he stood back up his fist clenched. He was sick of Alex's father's macho behavior and abuse and he was ready to show the man why he was called the legend killer. He was easily bigger and stronger than both Greg and his son and in frustration he pushed the two of them away.

Randy could have easily pummeled them and wanted nothing better than to teach them a lesson. He paused for half a moment looking at the two men and heard Alex's laughter from upstairs. Suddenly he wasn't angry anymore, he didn't want to hit Alex's dad. She'd kill him if he did, besides knowing his luck the man would probably press charges. Instead Randy looked at the two men who were shocked at the fact that he'd taken defensive action, they were just over protective. Instead of attacking the men Randy walked past them and upstairs towards his girlfriend and his unborn baby.

"Are you okay?" Alex rushed over when Randy came into sight, his gut still hurt a little bit, but it was nothing,

"I'm fine, they didn't touch me," He said shaking his head, "so do you guys have like Christmas traditions?" He asked changing the topic.

"Our biggest Christmas Eve tradition is that the boys get a visit from Santa, actually he should be coming soon," Alex explained causing Randy's eyes to go wide,

"Santa? You guys know SANTA? That is so cool! I love Santa, he is like the coolest dude EVER" Randy gushed out and Alex couldn't tell if he was being serious,

"You know the boys aren't around right? You don't have to pretend,"

"Pretend? Santa is AWESOME! He always bought me exactly what I wanted for Christmas"

"Sometimes I wonder about you," Alex shook her head,

"Why?" Randy asked confused, instead of answering Alex just kissed him in hope of changing the topic.


	32. Chapter 32

John felt like time had slowed down; Ashley still hadn't given him an answer. He was certain that she was going to turn him down and this was the last he would see her and his unborn child. John looked Ashley,

"Please, please give me an answer. I will deal with whatever answer you give me, but I can't handle not knowing. Please Ashley, please give me an answer. Will you marry me?"

"Would you answer him already? Put the man out of his misery," her father urged,

"Ten minutes ago you wanted me to ditch him," Ashley said still not taking her eyes off the man on one knee in front of her,

"I didn't say to answer him yes, just answer him; he's starting to get pathetic,"

"Okay," Ashley sighed smiling at John,

"Okay, you'll answer me? Or okay you'll marry me?"

"You know Dall's kind of... Weird," Jaimes whispered to his aunty, "he's more excited about Santa that I am,"

"Just remember he gets beaten up for a living, it tends to cause a few loose wires,"

"Huh?"

"He has moments where he's a few fries short of a happy meal," Alex said using a phrase that was common with her nephews,

"Oh... does that mean your baby will be an idiot too?"

"Hey he'll still have my genes,"

"So he'll definitely be an idiot,"

"Watch it boy!" Alex growled at her nephew, "There's still time to return your Christmas present." Alex chuckled as Jaimes' jaw dropped before he pretended to zip up his mouth.

"What's going on?" Randy asked after 'Santa' had left the room.

"Nothing," Alex shrugged smirking slightly. Randy sat on the couch beside Alex wrapping his good arm around her and pulling her close, nipping on her ear slightly.

"Alex! MERRY CHRISTMAS!" Greggy cried shoving a present in his sister's hands causing the two to break apart slightly, "Well... OPEN IT!" Greggy said trying to get his sister to open the gift.

Alex sat up better and ripped open the beautifully wrapped gift.  
"Oh, wow Greggy. Thank you, it's beautiful," Alex whispered in awe, it was a brother/sister photo collage filled with picture of them growing up,

"Who's that?" Randy asked pointing to a picture of a naked baby Alex,

"Me," Alex said simply, "Thank you so much,"

"No problems, we never see each other anymore so I thought I would remind you of your favourite big brother," Alex jumped up and wrapped her arms around Greggy,

"I love you big brother."

"Oh and here," Greggy said pulling away from his sister and throwing an envelope on Randy's lap. Randy was excited to be included in the Christmas celebration he ripped the envelope open and found a $50 Target Gift Card,

"You probably buy all your stuff at designer stores, but since my sister didn't really tell us who you were it kind of made it hard to buy you something,"

"Thanks dude, I love Target".

The gift giving continued for a little bit before the boys were sent to bed. The adults sat around talking for awhile and having some drinks, while they were talking Alex's mom and sister began to sort the presents under the tree and fill the stockings. As they were finishing up Alex began yawning,

"Come on hun,Hun; let me take you up to bed,"

"I think you better stay down here boy" Alex's father announced,

"Nah, you know what? I think I might sleep upstairs with the woman I love," Randy shrugged before heading to the stairs; Alex's father was taken back and didn't have the chance to respond before the two disappeared.

In Alex's bedroom the two were climbing into bed when Alex stopped,

"Did you really just defy my father?" She asked,

"Yeah," Randy shrugged.

"No other guy has ever defied my father,"

"Are you ever going to learn that I am not like other guys?" Randy smirked,

"Maybe one day," She sighed kissing him.

Alex was exhausted; she found that now she was pregnant she just didn't have the energy she had before. Though, pregnant or not, Christmas Eve was always an exhausting event. Randy wanted to talk, he was restless and nervous about Christmas day with Alex's family, plus he had just completely defied Alex's father, surely the man was going to try and kill him in his sleep. Alex didn't want to talk but tried to humour Randy, however she was quickly falling asleep agianstagainst the man's chest. Randy looked down at his girlfriend and smiled knowing that she was barely awake,

"Before I met you, I had no idea what it was like to look at someone and smile for no reason,"

"Go to sleep," Alex muttered,

"Oh come on, I'm being all sweet and romantic..."

"You're being a cornball, go to sleep," Randy playfully pouted, but Alex had once again dozed off.

He lay there watching his girlfriend sleep for a while smiling as she began to snore slightly. Randy loved that snore, and was more than happy to fall asleep to it every night. Alex told him he snored occasionally, but he got the feeling his snoring was a lot rougher and more obnoxious than hers. Especially since she usually told him he was snoring by hitting him until he woke up and then making him roll over, or sleep in the other room.

Randy only got a couple of hours of sleep and was awake before anyone else in the house. He snuck down stairs and smiled at the stockings and presents under the Christmas tree before ducking into 'his' room. Alex was still asleep when Randy snuck back into the room, he lay in bed and attempted to fall back asleep, but he wasn't tired. It wasn't as though he was restless or worrisome; his body had just gotten all the sleep it needed for that day and had slept off his Christmas Eve concerns.

He didn't want to wake Alex, she seemed peaceful, but after a while Randy began to get bored. He checked his watch and tried to remember whether Missouri was on the same time zone as Minnesota, after a few moments he decided to take his chances, figuring it would be the only opportunity he had to call home.

Randy snuck downstairs again and dialled his parent's number. After a while a very tired woman answered the phone,

"Merry Christmas Mom!" Randy announced cheerfully,

"Merry Christmas to you too, but Randy... It's 6am,"

"Oh... I thought you were an hour ahead. Oh well, I doubt I'll have time later today to call you," Randy kept talking to his mom for a while until the room was suddenly filled with squealing boys,

"IT'S CHRISTMAS, IT'S CHRISTMAS!" They screeched racing across to the tree and beginning to dig into their stockings, they hadn't even noticed Randy's presence.

"Mom, I've got to go, Alex's nephews are awake,"

"Merry Christmas son, thanks for calling, love you Munchkin,"

"Love you too mom," Randy replied rolling his eyes.

As he hung up the phone a movement caught his eye and he looked up to see Alex, wrapped in her robe, coming down the stairs.

"I was wondering where you went," Alex whispered kissing him,

"I couldn't sleep," he shrugged wrapping his arms around her enjoying the softness of her robe.

"Merry..."

"AUNTY, AUNTY look at what I got!" Jaimes called holding up an Elimination Chamber action figure set.

"Very, very cool,"

"Will you play it with us?"

"Later,"

"You know, I've been in a real one of those," Randy whispered in Alex's ear,

"Lucky you," her voice was sarcastic; she didn't really need to be reminded of the dangerous things he had done in his job.

"Hey, I got a $20,000 bonus for that match!"

"And how many injuries?" Alex asked pointedly.

Randy sighed and looked down at his girlfriend's concerned face. He knew she was just being protective, but the past was the past, it wasn't like he was going to jump in the elimination chamber anytime in the near future. Heck there wasn't much chance he'd be jumping into any match in the near future, if ever again. Randy also realized it was Christmas, they'd just gotten over one fight and there was no point getting into another one over something stupid. Instead of defending his actions Randy smiled and held out the box he'd gotten from his room earlier,

"Merry Christmas gorgeous," Alex took the box and turned it over in her hands, "You know it gets better if you actually open it!" Randy smirked; Alex hit him lightly and carefully opened the box.

"It's beautiful," she muttered,

"Let me help you put it on," Randy said taking the white gold charm bracelet out of the box and putting it on Alex's wrist, "Look," he said holding up the heart charm it read, 'dream, live, fly' causing Alex to chuckle.

"Thank you babe," she kissed him, they had effectively ignored the room full of people, getting caught up in their own world.

Alex knew she needed to give Randy his main present, but she was nervous, he had everything and if he wanted something he just went out and bought it. When they'd been in Missouri Alex had turned to his sister for advice on what to get the man. Randy's sister had answered Alex's questions simply,

"A family of his own,"

"Well I'm working on that, but that's going to be more of a birthday present than Christmas," Alex said simply, rubbing her belly slightly.

"Well... You'll figure something out," Randy's sister said shrugging and walking away. Alex left the conversation still completely lost as to the perfect Christmas present for her boyfriend.

Alex had thought about what Randy's sister had told her and about what Randy liked for ages before she finally came up with a good present. She had some smaller presents for him; a Metallica CD, some wrestling and football memorabilia, and a book, but her main present, while it didn't cost as much it would hopefully mean more to him than anything else. After admiring her present Alex ducked away and returned a few moments later with her present,

"What is it?" Randy asked holding the wrapped gift in his hand,

"Open it and find out," she responded shaking her head. Randy began to slowly open the present before putting etiquette aside and just ripping the wrapping off. Under the wrapping was a beautiful dual frame, one photo was of Randy and Alex out to dinner one night and the other was a picture of a 3D sonogram of their baby boy.

"Your sister said that you wanted a family, this is the best I could do for until March/April," Alex rushed out nervously.

"Thank you," Randy smiled slightly; it was one of the sweetest things that anyone had ever given him.

The rest of the morning went by in a blur, the family opened presents and everyone stuffed themselves with ham and other rich foods. Mid-afternoon the house began to empty out as Greggy and Tasha went to visit their partner's families so that their respective children could be spoilt even more.

Soon the only ones left were Alex's parents and Alex and Randy. After a whirl wind 24 hours the house was finally quiet. The two couples were sitting in the living room quietly looking at their new belongings; Alex was lying in Randy's lap and beginning to fall asleep,

"I think we might go have a nap if that is alright with you guys," Randy announced encouraging Alex to sit up,

"Go ahead hunHun, you both look beat," Alex's mom smiled and watched as Randy led her daughter up the stairs, "they make a cute couple,"

"My daughter is dating a professional wrestler, what is cute about that?" Alex's dad grunted, "When did she grow up?"

"I don't know, but she's going to make one hell of a mother,"

"That she is," Alex's dad smiled slightly leaning down and kissing his wife.

Upstairs Randy and Alex were cuddling on the bed, beginning to fall asleep when Randy's phone rang shrilling across the room,

"Hello?" Randy answered quickly,

"MERRY CHRISTMAS DALL!" John screamed down the line,

"Right back at you Johnny," Randy smiled, Alex sat up and called Merry Christmas through the phone to John and Ashley,

"Hey bro, I was wondering what you were doing on June 28th next year," John asked and Randy could nearly hear the smirk across the line,

"Bro, I don't even know what I'm doing tomorrow how the heck am I meant to know what I'm doing 6 months from now?"

"Well I know what I'm doing,"  
"What?" Randy sighed,

"Getting married and bro I need a best man, if you think you'd be up for the job,"

"Married? You're getting married?" Randy's jaw dropped in shock, he looked at Alex whose eyes were wide, sheand she quickly grabbed her own cell and called Ashley,

"Yeah bro, Ash and I are getting married,"

"Ash! You're going to marry that fool?" Alex asked as Ashley picked up,

"Yeah, what can I say? I love him," Ashley responded,

"Congratulations," Randy said still in awe, John was going to get married before he was, heck the fact that John was getting married was enough to send him in shock,

"Thanks, so do I have a best man?"

"Aboso-bloody-lutely!" Randy responded, "I am going to throw you one hell of a bachelor's party; men, sports, bar-hopping, strippers... OW" At his last suggestion Alex had hit him across the chest,

"Lex hit you?"

"Yeah,"

"Ash, just hit me,"

"Okay, so maybe not strippers," Randy shrugged smirking. Looking at Alex there was no way he wanted to bother himself with strippers; he had everything he needed right in front of him, even if she was several months pregnant.

Alex and Ashley were gushing, making a list of the different things that would be needed for the wedding,

"Lex, I don't have a heap of female friends and over the last few months we have gotten really close. I was wondering that since Randy is going to be the best man if you would be interested in being my Maid-of-Honour,"

"Ash, I'd love to, but surely you have someone better than me,"

"We both seemed to fall into the whirl wind world of these boys and you've become my best friend, I can't imagine having anyone else up there beside me,"

"Well I am completely honoured; I would love to be your Maid-of-Honour. Do you plan to have a bridal shower and a bachelorette party?"

"Heck yeah, I plan to milk this for all it's worth," Ashley laughed and Alex heard her kiss John. Alex looked across at her partner and smiled leaning up to kiss him,

"So Dall, you're next," John laughed over the phone,

"Yeah and I actually don't have a problem with that," Randy laughed back wrapping his good arm around Alex and pulling her close.

**A/N: Sorry about the delay... Though I did get told I couldn't mess with you guys any longer and had to give you an answer on whether or not Ashley said yes. I hope you liked it. **


	33. Chapter 33

Randy and Alex stayed in Minnesota until after New Years; it was a quiet New Years. Randy was used to spending it on the road with his co-workers. They usually had a special New Years' show, televised or not, then afterwards they would all go out and drink until the sun rose the next day. Most of them would get on their planes hung over or sleep offthe alcohol in the backseat of a car being driven by one of the few non-drinking wrestlers.

This year was different though, Randy didn't drink anymore and even if he did, it wouldn't have been fair for him to get drunk while Alex wasn't allowed to. At the beginning of the night they went out with Alex's siblings, but soon things got boring so headed home. Alex was just about asleep by midnight. Randy lay in bed with an arm around his girlfriend smiling, in may have been the quietest New Years he'd had since he was a teenager, but it was definitely his new favourite. Another change was in the morning he remembered everything he'd done the night before, a new and strange sensation, but one he rather enjoyed.

"Are you ready to go back?" Randy asked as their plane took off two days after New Years,

"I was ready about 2 weeks ago; my family can be exhausting,"

"You said it, not me," Randy smirked, "it's certainly been an interesting couple of weeks,"

"Yeah, thanks for sticking around and helping get rid of Bryan," Alex said quietly, Randy glanced down at his pregnant girlfriend and smiled sadly. Alex sat up and began to stare out the window.

After a few minutes she turned back and gently held Randy's hand,

"Randy, there is something I haven't told you," she whispered, Randy's heart lurched,

"Alex if this is about another secret husband..."

"No it's not... There was a baby," Alex's voice was barely audible,

"Yeah, I know, you're pregnant, it's kind of obvious," Randy put his hand on his girlfriend's pregnant stomach,

"No, another baby, Bryan's baby,"

"What?" Randy felt the heat rise to his face as his anger quickly sky rocketed.

"I got pregnant when I was with Bryan,"

"I said no more secrets, why didn't you tell me this then?" Randy asked struggling to keep his voice at a plane acceptable level.

"I'd pushed it out of my memory, I barely even remember it. I hadn't told anyone; not my parents, not Bryan. I'd come home from the doctors and had planned a really nice dinner for Bryan, I was really excited, but he didn't come home. I waited and waited and he finally walked through the door at about 1am. The dinner had been ruined, obviously," Alex kept talking, barely pausing for breath, she was afraid of what Randy would say if she gave him the chance to talk, "it was clear he'd been drinking, and he was angry. I never did find out why. I remember getting up to kiss him and being shoved to the ground. Then I remember is waking up in the hospital. When I was alone I asked the nurse about the baby and she apologized saying that I had obtained significant damage to the abdomen, I had not only lost the baby, but there was very slim chance of me ever getting pregnant again.

"When I found out about our baby, I had remembered the injury to the abdomen, but not the miscarriage. I knew it was a miracle that I was pregnant, but had lost so much of the memory from when I was in the hospital. When you were playing with the boys earlier today I found a box in my room, it had a newborn's outfit and the memories came back..." Alex finally paused for a moment,

"That's why you had been crying when I came upstairs," Randy muttered, putting pieces together,

"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you,"

"No, I'm sorry," Randy whispered wrapping his arms around Alex and holding her as close as he could in the plane's seating.

"You said no more secrets, so I wanted to make sure you knew. The truth is the chances are this little man," Alex rubbed her tummy, "is going to be the only child we have. The fact I got pregnant was a miracle in itself I don't know how it happened,"

"I can explain that," Randy smiled, "I have SUPER SPERM!" His voice was louder than expected and he got a strange look from a young couple nearby and woman Randy's mother's age sauntered over,

"Hey hansom," the woman cooed stroking Randy's arm, "why don't you follow me to the bathroom and show me just how super you can be,"

"Hey, that's my boyfriend you're hitting on," Alex growled.

"I don't know see a ring sweet heart,"

"How about a baby bump?"

"You know it's probably not even yours," The woman focused on Randy, not once facing Alex, "A hansom guy like you and a tramp like that,"

"Me, a tramp? You're the one hitting on MY boyfriend on a PLANE," Alex jumped to her feet getting in the face of the woman,

"Alex, settle down," Randy pulled his girlfriend down to his lap, "look lady, I'll give you 5 seconds to get out of my sight before I do something that will have us both getting off this flight with assistance, if you know what I mean," his eyes were crazy and the woman quickly backed away.

"Well, that was a Randy I haven't seen anywhere but on TV," Alex stated slightly taken back by her boyfriends sudden change in attitude, but flattered that he stood up for her,

"She insulted my girlfriend, she needed to understand the consequences," Randy shrugged.

The rest of the flight was rather placid, a flight attendant came and asked them about the disturbance, but Randy brushed her off. The last thing he needed was his name back in the papers with a story totally blown out of proportion.

There was heavy cloud cover over Massachusetts and so the descent was rough, Randy noticed that Alex's grip on his hand had gotten tighter, her eyes were shut tight and the colour had left her face. He leant over and whispered in her ear,

"It's alright, I love you," Alex smiled slightly, but didn't change her position, "Alex, look at me," Alex turned her head slightly and opened her eyes, "trust me, I've been on millions of flights and they've all ended with me still alive, and uninjured... Well except for this time that Adam, Jay and I got drunk and were wrestling in the aisle and I smashed into the bathroom door, giving myself a black eye. But that wasn't exactly the flight to blame... Anyway the pilots know what they're doing," Alex couldn't help but picture Randy running into the bathroom door.

By the time Randy had finished reassuring Alex the plane had passed through the clouds and evened out with the ground rapidly getting closer. As soon as they landed and the doors opened Alex jumped to her feet, eager to get off the plane and into the safe airport. Randy grabbed their carry-on luggage and raced after her.

Alex bolted past John and Ashley who were waiting for their friends,

"RANDY!" Called John as Randy started to past them, he stopped short turning to his friends, "looks like she's racing for the bathroom,"

"Rough landing," Randy explained giving his friends brief hugs.

They waited a few minutes for Alex to reappear before Randy turned to Ashley,

"Do you want to go check that she's okay?" Ashley headed towards the bathroom, where she found Alex vomiting loudly.

"Hey, are you okay?" Ashley asked walking into the open stall,

"I swear I am NEVER flying again!"

"It won't be so bad when you're not pregnant," Ashley chuckled, she pulled back Alex's hair and rubbed her back, "man how much did you eat?" Ashley sighed as Alex continued throwing up.

"Shut up!" Alex pouted, but after a few minutes sat back on her heals wiping her mouth, "let's go," she said heading towards the sink where she rinsed her mouth and washed her hands.

"Are you alright?" Randy asked rushing over as Alex and Ashley reappeared from the bathroom,

"I've been better," Alex sighed resting her head on Randy's shoulder, "can we go home?"

"Absolutely, John's gone to pull up the car."

Back at John's house Randy took Alex to bed and she fell asleep nearly instantly. Once certain that she was asleep Randy kissed her on the forehead and headed out to the living room where John and Ashley were hanging out,

"Is Alex okay?" John asked,

"Yeah, she just saw your ugly mug and did what everyone is compelled to do," Randy smirked at his friend.

The next day Alex was feeling better and the two couples were able to go out and celebrate John and Ashley engagement. It was an event that would have usually called for a champagne toast, but with Randy no longer drinking, the two women pregnant and John not wanting to drink by himself they settled on sparkling apple juice.

John headed back on the road the next day, spending 4 days of the week in one town or another, while Ashley and Alex worked on planning the wedding and Randy worked on rehabilitating his shoulder. When Ashley got anxious about John's absences or lack of phone calls Alex was there to calm her fears and remind her that John was completely and utterly in love with her and would never do anything to hurt her.

John was on the road on March 5th, Wrestlemania was the next week and he was slotted against Undertaker. 'Taker was set to bury him and then John would take some time off to be with Ashley when their baby was born. John figured he had plenty of time, Sophia Grace wasn't scheduled to make an appearance until March 18th with Taylor apparently joining her a week later on March 26th.

There was a Smackdown taping in Connecticut on March 5th, John was scheduled for a Main Event match with Kane and some head games from Undertaker, but as the opening credits were rolling John received a rushed phone call from Randy,

"Ash's water broke, we're taking her to the hospital now, you need to get here as soon as possible," John couldn't believe his ears and raced around looking for someone in charge. Because it was in his home state and the build up to Wrestlmania, Vince was at the show, John came barging into his office and pleaded the man for help. Understanding the pleas of a soon to be first time father, Vince organized for a helicopter to fly John the 2 hours to the hospital.

John arrived at the hospital just in time to hold Ashley's hand as she cursed him for the next hour. The harsh words from Ashley were soon wiped from his mind as at 10:45pm on March 5th he was handed Sophia Grace Cena, a 7 pound 5oz, 20 inch long little girl who was paler than her father and had a smattering of brown curls covering her head. John wiped the tears from his eyes as he held his little girl, who curled into his chest and instantly fell asleep, happily content until a nurse decided it was time for her to be moved. At that point Sophia Grace opened her mouth and nearly deafened her daddy with her screams.

"She looks just like you," Ashley smiled a little while later when Sophia was finally feeding happily,

"I can't believe it," John muttered still in awe, he was a daddy and his little girl was already wrapped around his finger. The very first time the nurse put her in his arms he knew that he would do anything for his little girl, he would give her the world if she asked for it.

"How can you not believe it? She's got brown hair, and pale as all get out," Alex chuckled having just walking in the room,

"I mean I can't believe I'm a dad,"

"Well I don't see why not? I mean you and Ashley had sex, you got her pregnant..." Alex continued to bait,

"I mean..." John was getting flustered,

"Dude just shut up," Randy chuckled slightly.

John was able to bring Ashley and Sophia home just in time for Smackdown to air the same week. During the time the women in his life were in the hospital a congratulations baby care package had arrived courtesy of WWE Corporate and John had received a phone call from John Laurinaitis, VP of Talent Relations, explaining that he would be fired on air, that his match with Undertaker would be given to Triple H and after he'd been given his scheduled time off he would come back in a fury and demand his job back. John was pretty happy with the arrangement, it gave him the time he wanted with his family and while he missed his Wrestlemania chance he knew that he was bound to get another one.

Once they were home from the hospital and both Ashley and Sophia were sleeping soundly John quietly turned on Smackdown, just in time for the main event match,

"The competitor tonight is 7ft tall and weighing in at whooping, 323 pounds... The Big Red Machine... KANE!" John smiled as he watched the fans go crazy for Kane's entrance, "And his opponent, set to face The Undertaker at Wrestlemania, 6ft 2 and weighing in at 250 pounds... JOHN CENA," John smirked as he listened to the crowd go crazy at his theme song, he always loved that pop from the crowd and had only in the past couple of days found something that gave him a greater feeling.

John's entrance played through, but the ramp stayed empty. John thought about where he was when the scene was being filmed, probably just about to land in Massachusetts, just in time to welcome Sophia into the world. He sighed completely certain he'd made the right choice, why would he have ever given up that opportunity?

He watched as announcer, Justin Roberts, once again announced him and his music played again. Finally Vince McMahon came down full of fire and fury ordering John to the ring. When John failed to make an appearance Vince threatened to fire him.

Suddenly Sophia started crying and John, no longer caring about the T.V, jumped to his feet hoping to reach his newborn daughter before she woke her mother up. John picked up Sophia and began to rock her holding her up against his chest, soon she settled down in his arms and by the time he lay down, with his daughter still against his chest, Smackdown was over.

John sighed, disappointed that he had missed the end of the show, but content to hold his little angel. He knew he could only pacify her so long, she would need a feed soon, but by the time he dozed off she was still snuggled against him.


	34. Chapter 34

After Sophia's exciting arrival Randy and Alex were eager for Taylor to make an appearance. They had seen the joy and love on their friends' faces and were eager to experience the same thing. It didn't matter that Sophia only slept well when she was lying against her daddy's chest, or that her little screams could be heard from across the road. She was a precious new bundle who was no longer pressing against her mother's sciatic nerve.

Taylor, however, didn't seem eager to make an appearance. He was rather comfortable in his current home, with no plans of moving anytime soon. When March 26th came and went Taylor's parents were slightly disappointed. Alex was well and truly over being pregnant and Randy just wanted to meet his son. The doctor had begun talking about inducing her, but Alex knew that Taylor would arrive when he was good and ready.

At 3:30am on April 1st, Alex woke up in pain. She cried out causing Randy to jolt awake,

"What's wrong?"

"It's time," Alex gasped, Randy jumped to his feet and raced across to the spare room where Alex's mother was sleeping. She'd arrivedon the 23rd of March to be with Alex when Taylor was born. After a couple of minutes of chaos they drove to the hospital and Alex was taken into a room.

Around 9am that same morning Randy's phone rang,

"Happy Birthday!" John called down the line,

"Oh yeah, thanks," Randy responded absently,

"Where are you guys?"

"At the hospital, Alex is in labour," Randy's voice was full of disbelief and John swore he could hear a hint of a smirk,

"That's a pretty lame April Fool's, how does Alex feel about you teasing her like that?" John responded attempting to catch Randy on his joke,

"No, I'm serious. Alex went into labour around 3:30 this morning, her mum drove us to the hospital, we didn't want to wake you,"

"Oh, how's things going?"

"Slowly, but Alex keeps saying he'll come when he's ready," Randy shrugged, wondering how his girlfriend could be so patient.

A nurse came out looking for Randy, so he hung up with John and went to be with Alex. A couple of hours later John arrived at the hospital,

"Hey guys, how's it going? Ashley sends her love, but figured that she best keep Sophia at home," John asked walking in; Alex glared at him, exhausted and annoyed that he was full of energy.

At 9:35pm on April 1st, over 16 hours after his mother went into labour, Taylor Keith Orton finally graced the world with his presence. He was 9 pound 14 ounces and 22.5 inches long, with tanned skin like his dad and light brown hair like his mother. He had 10 fingers,10 toes and was healthy as could be.

After he'd been cleaned up the nurse held him out to Randy,

"Would you like to hold your son?" She asked, Randy nodded mutely and held out his arms. But, as soon as the weight hit his arm a tingling and numb sensation ran down its length and Randy's arm gave out. Thankfully the nurse still had a good grip on young Taylor,

"Dall!" Alex gasped watching the event unfold, "Nurse, he's recently had major shoulder surgery, can you help him hold Taylor?"

"Mr. Orton, why don't you sit down?" The nurse suggested leading Randy over to a nearby rocking chair. When Randy sat down she instructed him to hold out his good arm. He did and the nurse gently placed Taylor in his daddy's arms.

"Happy Birthday Daddy," Alex whispered, Randy looked over at his girlfriend and smiled,

"This is the best birthday present ever."

Randy wasn't able to hold his son without assistance until he was two months old. He and John had organized trips to the spa for Alex and Ashley, promising that they would look after the kids before John had to return to work the next week. John had dozed off on the couch with little Sophia sound asleep in her favourite place, her daddy's chest. Taylor woke up wanting to be fed, he'd slimmed down in the couple of weeks until they realized that he wasn't getting enough food from breast feeding. Randy had fed Taylor before when Alex or somebody had placed him carefully in his arms. Not wanting to disturb John and longing to pick up his son, Randy made his way over to the crib. Carefully he bent down and picked up his son, Randy waited for the pain and was shocked when there was none. Taylor stopped crying and looked up at his daddy and smiled. Randy smiled back carried him into the kitchen to prepare a bottle.

The two kids were like chalk and cheese... Sophia cried when daddy wasn't around, he had to call and say goodnight to her before she went to sleep, she was a real daddy's girl. She was never happy, unless Daddy was there and even then he had to work on it. Sophia's world revolved around her dad and it made for many sleepless nights for Ashley when John was on the road. Taylor on the other hand was peaceful, he didn't cry much at all. He had to do everything on his own time though... If he wasn't ready to sleep you couldn't make him, if he wasn't ready to eat there was no point wasting your time. He was stubborn, but calm, a happy baby.

Taylor's calmness drove Ashley crazy, she wondered what she was doing wrong, she tried Sophia on formula and it didn't change anything, she changed the brand of diapers and still nothing. Ashley began to think her daughter hated her. Alex wished she knew what she was doing differently and tried to help Ashley as much as she could, but there was no avail. The doctors said that there was nothing wrong; she just wanted to be around her daddy.

John caught earlier flights home and turned down the bonuses to be home with his family. He was a changed man at work as well; all he could talk about was the little girl who'd entered his life. It frustrated Ashley even more that John could walk in and silence the screaming child when she'd been working for hours to do it herself.

Ashley loved her little girl though and she loved John. She just wished she could find a way to calm Sophia when John wasn't around. One day when Sophia was six months old she found the words that the little girl needed to hear; a sweet song that her mother sung to her when she was little. Holding the baby against her chest the words came to her mind and she quietly began to sing. Moments later Sophia became quiet as she was lulled by the words.

On June 28th Sophia was just under 4 months old and Taylor was just under 3 months. Not one member of the two couples could believe how much their lives had changed in the past year, now two of them were taking the next big step. John and Ashley were getting married.

The wedding was beautiful, they had written their own vows and when it came time to share them both had tears in their eyes. Across the aisle Randy glanced at Alex, his breath was taken away at how beautiful she looked in the Aqua bride's maid gown. He hadn't yet asked Alex to marry him. It wasn't that he didn't want to marry her, he was nervous. Marriage was meant to be for life... The last time he'd gotten engaged it had all come tumbling down around him and Alex had been married before, that didn't end well either.

Watching Alex across the aisle as John and Ashley said their vows made Randy realize that while things hadn't worked out in the past, it didn't mean they couldn't work out in the future. He would ask Alex to marry him; he just needed the right time, right place and most importantly the right ring.

One of Alex and Randy's wedding gift to their friends was to look after Sophia for a couple of nights so they could have some time alone. It wasn't much of a honeymoon, but it was something and a chance to spend time alone, without their child. It was a chaotic couple of days, but Randy and Alex survived as did both children. The two babies enjoyed 'playing' together. They babbled to each other, no one understood what they were saying, but they figured they could and that was all that mattered.

Sophia said her first word, "Dada", at 7 months and walked at 9 months old, she was eager to see the world from a new height. Taylor, determined to do things at his own speed didn't begin to crawl until 10 months and didn't begin to walk until 16 months, his first word was "Mamma", at 9 months. Taylor didn't feel the pressure from Sophia, and Alex knew that he would do things when he was ready. Randy found it hard to be patient with his son, wanting him to be the best and first at everything he did. Alex kept calming her partner down, explaining that doing things at his own speed didn't make him slow or stupid.

Randy's rehabilitation went well; he was at physical therapy regularly working hard to be able to play with Taylor. Taylor's birth had given Randy the final motivation he needed to getting his arm stronger. He spent all his free time working towards getting himself stronger and using his son to get his arm stronger.

When the kids were just over a year old RAW had a special three hour broadcast. John had been missing home and had begged Ashley to join him on the road for a couple of weeks. He'd been over the moon when she'd said yes and had been enjoying spending the extra time with his two favourite people in the entire world. It was a very special show and John had a mid-show main event match, against a mystery opponent for the number one contenders spot.

Justin Roberts announced the match and when he heard his name John made his way down the ramp to the cheers of the crowd. The cheers meant very little to him anymore, the feeling the crowd had once given him had been replaced by the feeling he got when Sophia batted her blue eyes, wrapped her little arms around him, gave him a big kiss and said,

"Love you dada," she definitely had him wrapped around her little finger and she was just starting to realize it. She knew that if she batted her big blue eyes, or stuck out her bottom lip she could get just about anything she wanted. Sophia also quickly learnt to always go to daddy first, because that way mummy didn't have a chance to say no. Daddy would always give her what she wanted and John knew that it was going to lead to problems when she was older, but figured that he had plenty of time before then.

John's grin wasn't fake as he came down to the ring and high-5'd some lucky kids. He was over the moon that his family was with him and right before he'd walked through the curtain Ashley had told him news, they were going to welcome another baby to the world. When he reached the ring he gave the signal to Justin who began to announce John's competitor.

"The competitor tonight, weighing 250 pounds, 6ft 4inches tall, making his long anticipated return to the ring, the one the only the legend killer... RANDY ORTON!" John's grin grew as the crowd went crazy at the long silenced entrance music.

Randy began to make his way down to the ring grinning ear to ear. He looked confident and cocky on the outside, but his insides were liquid with nerves. Never in his life had he been so nervous going into a match, even his first televised match hadn't bought this many butterflies. Admittedly when he was preparing for his first televised match he was a cocky young kid happy to ride on his father's coat tails. This match would not only determine his future in wrestling, but his future as a father and his ability play with Taylor as the toddler got older.

The two wrestled a heated match with John constantly checking in on Randy's shoulder.. They wrestled a convincing match, and when Randy's shoulder became too painful he was FU'd before being hit by a 5-Knuckle Shuffle and pinned by John. If Randy's shoulder held up after the match a feud would begin with Randy determined to get the Number One Contender's spot. But, it really all depended on whether Randy's shoulder held up.

As they headed back up the ramp Randy scribbled a few autographs and hi-fived a few fans who were extra excited to see him return, before turning to John as they walked through the curtain,

"Hey can you watch TiKi for a little bit? I want to talk to Lex alone," Randy asked using the name they'd started calling Taylor just a few months ago. They'd been calling him TK and Sophia had tried calling him the same thing, but to her it was TiKi, the adults had began to copy the toddler and the name stuck. . The little boy seemed to enjoy his unique nickname.

"Of course,"

"He's probably asleep by now anyway,"

"Yeah, Soph too. How's your shoulder?" John asked checking his friend over,

"Better now we've stopped, I'll definitely feel it in the morning though. I'll stop via the trainer's and get an ice pack after I shower," Randy shrugged.

After Randy had showered and gotten an ice pack he took Alex out the back of the arena,

"Dall, where are we going?"

"Do you know where we are?" Randy asked smirking,

"The back of the arena?"

"No honey, well yes we are, but stand right here," Randy said moving his girlfriend over a few paces before moving himself,

"Dall..." Alex was confused at what her boyfriend was doing.

"This is the exact spot where we met," Randy smiled at Alex. She realized he was telling the truth. The show was in Minnesota at the Target Centre, they'd met there nearly exactly two years prior.

"It is, I nearly forgot,"

"You were running away from your friend Jamie who was flirting with Justin, you didn't recognize me to begin with I was shocked,"

"You always did have a big head,"

"Well, you know we met two years ago next Tuesday and boy has it been a crazy ride,"

"Who would have thought that night would lead us where we are now? Living together with a precious little boy,"

"You know Lexi, I have everything I could have ever possibly asked for, but one thing... I love you Lex, will you marry me?" Randy asked dropping down to one knee holding out a diamond and topaz white gold ring,

"Yes," Alex smiled; Randy slipped the ring on her finger before standing up and kissing her passionately.

"Do you ever just want to escape?" He whispered, words he had said to her two years prior,

"Not anymore," Alex whispered back grinning ear to ear.

END

**A/N: This is the end of Sad Sad Eyes, but if you are interested in what is going to happen to Taylor and Sophia stay tuned for a mini-spin off. There are a lot more adventures in store for Randy, Alex, John and Ashley as their children grow up. **


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